The iPhone 14's 'Crash Detection' Keeps Calling 911 on Rollercoasters (theverge.com) 126
"The iPhone 14's new Crash Detection feature, which is supposed to alert authorities when it detects you've been in a car accident, has an unexpected side effect," reports the Verge.
"It dials 911 on rollercoasters." According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the feature has had law enforcement sent to amusement parks on numerous occasions after mistaking a thrill ride's twists, turns, and hard braking for a real emergency....
If the sensors detect that you've been in an accident, your iPhone will display an alert and call emergency services if you don't dismiss it within 20 seconds. When it calls law enforcement, it will play an audio message that alerts authorities you've been in a crash, and also provides them with your location....
[WSJ reporter Joanna Stern] says Warren County, where Kings Island is located, received six emergency calls triggered by park rides since the iPhone 14's release. She also points out that other users have experienced similar issues in amusement parks across the country.
"My time on the crash-detection beat has proven that the feature can absolutely save a life," Stern acknowledged on Twitter. "There's already proof of it helping in real crashes. But there are situations where it works and it shouldn't and others where it doesn't work and it should.
"Such is the story of technology!"
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the story.
"It dials 911 on rollercoasters." According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the feature has had law enforcement sent to amusement parks on numerous occasions after mistaking a thrill ride's twists, turns, and hard braking for a real emergency....
If the sensors detect that you've been in an accident, your iPhone will display an alert and call emergency services if you don't dismiss it within 20 seconds. When it calls law enforcement, it will play an audio message that alerts authorities you've been in a crash, and also provides them with your location....
[WSJ reporter Joanna Stern] says Warren County, where Kings Island is located, received six emergency calls triggered by park rides since the iPhone 14's release. She also points out that other users have experienced similar issues in amusement parks across the country.
"My time on the crash-detection beat has proven that the feature can absolutely save a life," Stern acknowledged on Twitter. "There's already proof of it helping in real crashes. But there are situations where it works and it shouldn't and others where it doesn't work and it should.
"Such is the story of technology!"
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the story.
Geofencing (Score:5, Insightful)
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or tie it in with maps. If the map says you are not on a road, then you were probably doing something else but driving.
Seems like a good idea on the face of it but there are several situations where a crash means you are no longer on a road. Perhaps in the middle of someone's living room after going airborne off a curb, for example.
On the other hand, in such a situation, it's likely that 911 is going to get called manually by one or more people anyway, so the general usefulness of this feature seems dubious to me.
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We'd want it to detect accidents at home too. Such as falling off a ladder, heart attack, bathroom, stairs, etc.
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We'd want it to detect accidents at home too. Such as falling off a ladder, heart attack, bathroom, stairs, etc.
It's already been doing that for some time. Fall detection works in the same manner as crash detection.
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Which is exactly the problem here on the rollercoasters, I wager. Sudden acceleration and an abrupt stop feels to the phone like an accident.
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or tie it in with maps. If the map says you are not on a road, then you were probably doing something else but driving.
Well since 911 is already showing up one assumes there's already some kind of mapping at work.
Apple should certainly try to figure out how to filter out this specific false-positive. But I suspect the 911 system could be improved a bit so the information that this was an automated call triggered by an iPhone's crash detection shows up along with the location at an amusement park.
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But I suspect the 911 system could be improved a bit so the information that this was an automated call triggered by an iPhone's crash detection shows up along with the location at an amusement park.
I don't see why the 911 system(s) should be responsible for resolving this issue, the onus for triggering a real emergency should be on the user and device manufacturer. There's also no national 911 system, they are all locally controlled and operated, the amount of taxpayer dollars that would be required to update all the 911 systems would be exorbitant. The device manufacturers either need to have this feature disabled by default or make it a lot simpler for the user to temporarily disable crash detecti
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But I suspect the 911 system could be improved a bit so the information that this was an automated call triggered by an iPhone's crash detection shows up along with the location at an amusement park.
I don't see why the 911 system(s) should be responsible for resolving this issue, the onus for triggering a real emergency should be on the user and device manufacturer. There's also no national 911 system, they are all locally controlled and operated, the amount of taxpayer dollars that would be required to update all the 911 systems would be exorbitant. The device manufacturers either need to have this feature disabled by default or make it a lot simpler for the user to temporarily disable crash detection.
The point of my idea isn't to put the burden of the 911 system, it's to increase its capability.
A 911 call with no answer and muffled sounds means one thing when it's dialed by hand from a house and quite another thing when it's dialed by crash detection at an amusement part.
Even if you still have to send someone to check out both calls getting all that contextual info to the operator can give them a lot of help in figuring out what's going on.
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"Dude, it's not like Apple is tracking your location. You're such a paranoid conspiracy theorist... lol.".
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Perhaps geofencing could be set up to exclude theme parks for crash detection reports. Roller coasters extreme enough to trigger the detection are generally going to be in fixed locations.
Then Apple gets sued when someone dies on a crashed rollercoaster or bumper-cars ...
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Or the freeway next to the theme park
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If I were designing this system I'd simply monitor the accelerometer and GPS to see if the phone comes to a stop suddenly, or keeps moving. If it keeps moving then it's probably a rollercoaster or some turbulence on an airplane.
Google's crash detection feature has been around for years and doesn't have this problem.
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It's probably not all that hard to detect typical carnival rides. Google might even know whether you ride a drop zone, or a pirate ship, or a tilt-a-whirl.
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But what about the young adults, who after their visit to Great Hypothetical Park are so excited that they lose control of their muscle car in the parking lot, break through the fence, accelerate along the park way and crash right into the big loop of Speculative Mountain? Ha? Didn't think about that, did you?
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Exactly. Apple could totally do this, and it should be for them to ensure that their devices don't generate tons of false-positives.
Coming soon... (Score:4, Funny)
So, what is the problem? (Score:2)
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You want 911 to be overloaded with fake calls and not able to respond to real emegencies? What is wrong with you?
Every guy's nightmare ... (Score:2)
But there are situations where it works and it shouldn't and others where it doesn't work and it should.
One or the other -- or one then the other ... :-)
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investigating fatal DUI wrecks is kinda important (Score:4, Informative)
You specifically said a *serious* crash.
When people are seriously injured in a crash, it often matters whose fault it is - did the person who hit you run the run light? Are they drunk? In MOST cases, someone broke the law - by leaving their lane if nothing else.
So police are ALSO needed at serious wrecks, along with the ambulance. They are also the ones who handle routing traffic around the crash etc.
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I don't know about you, but when I get into a serious crash, my first concern is that I'm not on fire, not drowning and get medical attention.
Finding out who I could sue comes after I know I will survive. Priorities may be different in a sue-happy country like the US, but still...
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Did anyone say that investigating was the ONLY thing that is happening? The presence of the police does not preclude the presence of any other rescue service. And if the police are there first (which they often are), they may very well be the ones who are preventing you from drowning or burning.
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they may very well be the ones who are preventing you from drowning or burning.
You'd think so, but they are under no obligation to protect you. You have to hope that they feel like it, and don't instead decide to stop, harass, or arrest any bystanders who might try to rescue you when they notice the complete indifference the police have to your plight.
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they may very well be the ones who are preventing you from drowning or burning.
You'd think so, but they are under no obligation to protect you.
Yet they do so. The "under no obligation" thing is overwhelmingly about them never showing up in the first place, cover you ass. When they do show up they overwhelmingly try to help.
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When they do show up they overwhelmingly try to help.
You watch too much Law and Order Remember this? [apnews.com]
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When they do show up they overwhelmingly try to help.
You watch too much Law and Order
No, I have friends who are fireman. Police often happen to be closer to the incident.
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I don't know about you, but when I get into a serious crash, my first concern is that I'm not on fire, not drowning and get medical attention.
Police are more likely to be at the scene before an ambulance, and they are trained in first aid. Even if you don't care about the investigation you likely still want police there first.
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I don't know about your country, but in mine, if I'm in a car crash, the order I'd like them to arrive is the fire department, medical services and maybe finally police. The fire guys have the heavy tools to get me out of a wreck, and the medicine men have the tools to make the wreck that I potentially am survive.
The last thing I need is someone with a half-baked first aid course try to pull me out of a mass of metal that keeps my leg trapped.
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I'm sure your glorious country is better in every way, but here is what happens here. When an emergency call comes in, the 911 dispatcher will dispatch the police, fire, and medical AT THE SAME TIME. Now, unlike fire and medical, the police are already on the road, and so will usually arrive at the scene first. Being just a dumb American, I would be grateful for any help that whoever gets there first could provide. But I guess if your car was on fire you would rather just sit there and wait until the 'r
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You could easily ask the police to hang back until the right people arrive. See it's simple. No wonder we all laugh at you Americans - at least those of us who haven't burned to death in a car we couldn't get out of because it's much less bad than sustaining further injuries being pulled clear by LEOs. /sarcasm, in case this is the internet
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Have you asked your family whether they'd want to prioritise saving your life over suing the responsible party?
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No, and if you ponder for a moment, you will instantly understand why.
Either they say "no", then we agree.
Or they say "yes", in which case I want them to be wrong.
Seconds can matter, police save lives at accidents (Score:2)
I don't know about you, but when I get into a serious crash, my first concern is that I'm not on fire, not drowning and get medical attention.
As police officers are often on the road driving around, they are often the first to respond and initiate rescue or first aid until other responder arrive. Seconds can matter, police save lives at accidents.
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It doesn't matter who you WANT to be there first. All services will be dispatched at the same time. Someone will get there first. That someone is usually the police, because they are already in cars on the road. Delaying the police from getting there isn't going to make the other services get there any faster. If you would rather just sit there bleeding, on fire, in pain, whatever for a few additional minutes until the 'right' people get there you are a moron.
Yeah, it would be nice if the rescue squad
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The police are usually the first ones to the accident (since they are already in a car driving around). Many, many, times the police will determine that no other rescuers are needed. This makes a big difference in places (the vast majority of the country by area) where the rescue services are volunteers. In those cases the rescue service calls may be canceled before they even get people to the station.
And in a serious accident, the police can determine more ambulances, MedEvac, etc will be required befor
Crash on a rollercoaster? (Score:2)
Another edge case for you. What happens when you experience an actual crash on a rollercoaster? There were numerous cases of this happening over the years all around the world.
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Somebody nearby will call the emergency service. You wouldn't be having a crash in an empty park, unless you broke in at night, and overrode the security systems.
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I just like Final Destination, alright? ;-)
Life's ups and downs (Score:3)
At the risk of beating a (off) topic to death, that's why I think a self-driving car borders on the impossible. Driving is full of such odd cases that you'll never see and out-code.
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When an odd case arises it can be dealt with, in code, and that code shipped out globally to all devices rendering the odd case irrelevant going forward.
This example here will be a great case of why self driving will work. No doubt on the back of these reports crash detection will be refined and rollercoasters won't be a problem going forward.
Unlike code however, you can't tell all humans to not make mistakes. I would have already had 2 crashes less in my life if all cars were self-driving as a computer doe
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I assume the phone person is in place to confirm there's a fire and not a malfunction somehow; otherwise, why not have the box directly call 911?
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> Driving is full of such odd cases that you'll never see and out-code.
Right - self-driving is the same problem as General AI.
We should have spent the Iraq War money on Personal Rapid Transit instead and be done by now.
Almost nobody minds diving the first and last miles - it's the 600 miles in between that are boring.
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I wouldn't count on that. Live electrical wires have been around for about 0.03% of the time humans have been anatomically modern.
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Android phones too (Score:5, Interesting)
This happened to me with an Android phone as well recently.
I was on a roller coaster last month, and towards the end of the ride I heard a faint "911 what's your emergency?", wasn't sure if it was my phone or someone else's on the ride. As soon as I got off the ride, I check my phone and found to my shock and surprise that it was my phone that had dialed 911, and they were still on the line. I apologized profusely and told them it was an accidental pocket dial, and thankfully that's all that happened, they didn't send any emergency personnel to the theme park.
I'd previously assumed that the power button had gotten held down in my pocket long enough to trigger the emergency popup, and somehow my thigh was able to activate the touch screen button to dial emergency services. But now after seeing this article, I realize that probably what actually happened was Android's car crash detection kicked in (I checked, and I do have this feature enabled). And that also explains why the phone was on speakerphone, which I'd been a bit confused about.
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Android 12 has a "feature" that allows you to easily pocket dial the emergency number. By default, the touch screen remains active for 5 seconds after the screen turns off.
Since I upgraded from Android 11 to 12, I suddenly started dialing 112 (emergency number in Europe) about once a week. My default workflow (check phone, push power button, put in pocket) left the touch screen on for a full 5 seconds. Looking though the settings, I finally found this en set it to 0 seconds. Not a single emergency call sinc
Geofence it (Score:1)
fun time to die (Score:2)
Unrelated but not offtopic. And I just love funpark deaths.
A woman was killed recently when her phone fell out of her pocket (or hand?) while on the ride.
She exited the ride and crossed a barrier into a secured area ro retrieve her phone.
Just at that moment, the ride sweeps down the rails and cracks her in the head. You're dead.
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You're dead.
That is incorrect.
Bet the other AC wishes it were true though.
Having anything autodial 911 is a stupid idea (Score:5, Insightful)
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Send those fines to Apple. Seems like free money..
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> Send those fines to Apple
Precisely. Apple wants to market this feature and privatize their gains while socializing the losses on local taxpayers.
So they have no incentive for precision.
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is it costing lives? (Score:3)
"My time on the crash-detection beat has proven that the feature can absolutely save a life," Stern acknowledged on Twitter. "There's already proof of it helping in real crashes. But there are situations where it works and it shouldn't and others where it doesn't work and it should.
need to also add that it is probably also costing lives if it is calling in false crash reports, emergency responders are not unlimited resources.
This seems like a job for... (Score:2)
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... that this feature is enabled by default.
That was going to be my question. Is this something which is on all the time, or can it be disabled?
Granted, people who go on roller coasters with their phone would need to remember to disable it first then reenable it once they're done riding.
Re:It seems ridiculous (Score:5, Informative)
It's on by default, but it can be turned off.
https://support.apple.com/guid... [apple.com]
Re:It seems ridiculous (Score:4, Funny)
It's on by default, but it can be turned off.
https://support.apple.com/guid... [apple.com]
You are assuming that Apple users read the e-manual for their iPhone 14 before they use it, right?
Roller coaster mode (Score:2)
It's on by default, but it can be turned off.
In the next software update, right next to the switch enabling airplane mode, will be a switch enabling roller coaster mode.
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If there were multiple people in a minivan or a bus with iphones, you would expect them all to go off at once. Geofencing is the right solution - there are 5814 amusement parks in the US - not too many to have on a geolocation list. Your phone should at least alert you when you enter one, and prompt if you want to disable crash detection, then re-enable it when you leave the area.
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Or train wrecks, or...
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What about all those mobile carnival rides that you see pop up at every county fair around the US?
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Given the existence of multiple car pile-ups and genuinely hazardous intersections on roads around the world, I'm not sure it's easy to decide what is a harmless bump and what needs emergency response.
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Yes, it can be disabled. When the roller coaster catastrophically fails and you plunge to your death and your phone is also destroyed by the impact then this feature will automagically switch off, along with your Apple Watch. If you fail to give us notice of this event we may decline to refund unused data. Thank you.
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When the roller coaster catastrophically fails, there will be plenty of other people around to notice and call 911. Not so when you fall down your house stairs, or crash on a mountain road, or other scenarios the feature is actually intended for.
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That was going to be my question. Is this something which is on all the time, or can it be disabled?
21 words. And you have to wait for the answer.
"can crash detection be turned off" 6 words. And you get the answer straight away.
https://lmgtfy.app/?q=can+cras... [lmgtfy.app]
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My question is. Does anyone really think this is a good idea?
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New cars in the EU have to have crash detection with a modem to alert the emergency services. It's linked to the airbags I think, doesn't trigger for minor collisions.
Google phones have had this for years, so it definitely can work reliably if implemented properly. Apple don't seem to test stuff properly, probably because they are so secretive about new products.
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New cars in the EU have to have crash detection with a modem to alert the emergency services.
I hope this never comes to the U.S. Current vehicles are already clogged with tons of annoying safety "features". The harassment is never ending.
Technology is sucking any fun which might remain in life.
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I hope this never comes to the U.S.
It's already here. I was sitting in my living room reading a book one afternoon a few years ago when I got a call asking me, "Mr. LastName, are you ok?" I was very confused, but reasonably quickly figure out that my wife was driving my car and must have been in an accident. The car called the emergency services and the monitoring company, who then called me. (Car was totaled, but she was luckily only slightly banged up.)
doesn't trigger for minor collisions.
Actually, they do sometimes trigger on more minor collisions. I had another occasion
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If it killed the deer and totalled the car it's not exactly minor
It didn't total the car. No airbags, no real mechanical damage other than my headlight, it did a lot of cosmetic damage to the grill and fender. You would not say it was a major accident by looking at the car afterward.
if you had hit a human then you would have definitely needed the emergency services, so it looks like it's set to an appropriate level of sensitivity.
Oh, yeah, I wasn't complaining. I thought it was an appropriate question for the car to ask. I'd think it should go ahead and ask when it detects any possible collision at all, as long as it doesn't automatically call unless the collision is enough to blow the air bags (or some similar
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if you had hit a human then you would have definitely needed the emergency services, so it looks like it's set to an appropriate level of sensitivity.
Oh, yeah, I wasn't complaining. I thought it was an appropriate question for the car to ask. I'd think it should go ahead and ask when it detects any possible collision at all, as long as it doesn't automatically call unless the collision is enough to blow the air bags (or some similar criteria).
I guess a valuable side effect of this technology is that it mostly eliminates successful hit-and-run attempts. A car or phone will rat the driver out almost every time.
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We hit a deer a few months ago and it was four thousand dollar's worth of damage to my car. I'm not going to call that minor.
Yeah, I wasn't sold on if this was a good idea or not but upon reading some of the comments, I'm not thinking with some refining this could be a good thing.
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My 2014 Ford Escape has that that capability built into their Sync2 (and subsequent Sync3) OS where after a crash it'll call 911 over Bluetooth to the linked phone..
In other words, that ship has already sailed.
Re:It seems ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
Current vehicles are already clogged with tons of annoying safety "features". The harassment is never ending. Technology is sucking any fun which might remain in life.
Sorry, what safety features do you find annoying? Which do you think are harassing you? How are they "sucking any fun" from your life?
Do your anti-lock breaks make unflattering comments about your body? Did your airbags embarrass you in front of a girl you like? Does your seat belt occasionally tell you uncomfortable truths? What on earth are you complaining about?
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Sorry, what safety features do you find annoying? Which do you think are harassing you?
Seat belt indicators. When I'm driving five miles to the store I don't need to hear beeping. If motorcyclists don't have to wear helmets, I shouldn't be harassed to wear a seat belt. My parent 2020 Toyota Camry has a big warning message dead center of the console in front of the steering wheel warning them the car can't verify all the engine safety features are working. After looking in the manual and online, I found
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Seat belt indicators. When I'm driving five miles to the store I don't need to hear beeping.
Yes you do. Wear your seatbelt. The laws of physics don't change just because you're only going five miles.
If motorcyclists don't have to wear helmets, I shouldn't be harassed to wear a seat belt.
Motorcyclists should wear helmets. If it's not the law in your jurisdiction, the law needs to be changed. If nothing else it'll save emergency services personnel from having to hose the brain matter off the highway.
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First: The world does not revolve around you. Wear your seat belt like a reasonable person. It's been the law for 40+ years. It's long past time you got over it.
Next, let's look at some of your more obvious lies:
With the new "feature" of led lights, you have to replace the entire structure
This is obviously not true. You can buy replacement LED bulbs. A quick google search will confirm that for you.
that annoying "feature" which yanks the wheel to one side if it thinks you're getting too close to the white/yellow line [...] is especially dangerous on the highway where if you're trying to avoid something in the road and the car is yanks you back
First, you can disable that feature with the press of a button. Second, it does not work that way! Lane-keeping assist will cancel when you move the steering wheel or activate the t
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This is obviously not true. You can buy replacement LED bulbs. A quick google search will confirm that for you.
There are some Cadillac taillights that cost over $2000 to replace because they're built as a module with multiple circuit boards and surface-mount LEDs. Once you have lights that don't burn out randomly, idiot automotive engineers start going crazy about style and completely forget that there are other reasons to replace lights.
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It's my parents car. I'm not touching anything since they're the ones driving it.
You're complaining about features you don't understand in a car you don't even own...
I noticed you never commented on the extra cost for all this supposed safety.
How many of your lies do i need to point out? Car prices have generally tracked with inflation until very recently, which does not correspond to the introduction of new safety features.
Apparently we're supposed to keep sheling out money left and right
I should probably point out that you don't own a car. You haven't 'shelled out' for anything. This is not a problem that personally affects you in any way.
for ridiculous features because some people are too incompetent to drive correctly.
You have already admitted to driving a car that you don't own illegally. You've also
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Unless you are constantly crashing hard enough to deploy the airbags, this feature is unlikely to be "harassing" you.
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Unless you are constantly crashing hard enough to deploy the airbags, this feature is unlikely to be "harassing" you.
Or unless you and your iPhone are driving fast through very hilly country... ;-)
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New cars in the EU have to have crash detection with a modem to alert the emergency services.
I hope this never comes to the U.S. Current vehicles are already clogged with tons of annoying safety "features". The harassment is never ending.
Technology is sucking any fun which might remain in life.
I agree. If this feature saves the life of just one idiot, that's one idiot too many.
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Your phone is tracking you, but the sad thing is.. (Score:2)
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Well, that's about 4 minutes longer than anyone at Apple spent thinking about the problem, if the crash sensor can be triggered by a roller coaster that is still moving.
here are a lot of good engineers on slashdot (Score:2)
And right now many of them are thinking its always fun when software leaves the lab and gets into the hands of the public for the first time. Its often a humbling experience. We've all been there.