Car crash detection will be coming to Pixel smartphones

When we get into a car crash but are too wounded to call for help, you’ll be happy to learn that Google has confirmed that an upcoming feature for its Pixel phones will come in the form of car crash detection. This means that when the phone detects that you’ve gotten into an accident, presumably based on the sensors in the phone, it will call 911 on your behalf.

Based on what we know about the feature, it seems to be similar to the fall detection feature on the Apple Watch. When a potential car crash has been detected, users will be prompted with a notification and a warning tone. This is to give users a chance to respond to the feature, where if you’re fine, you can cancel the detection.

In the event that you are not OK, you can then request for emergency services to be called on your behalf. We’re not sure if the feature will automatically call emergency services if you do not respond in a timely manner, or if you will need to explicitly tell it to call on your behalf. The former method is great in situations where you might be critically injured and can’t move or if you’re unconscious, but we understand that it does have the potential to make accidental or unwanted 911 calls. For now, it seems that the feature will be limited to the US.

The feature is expected to be released for Pixel devices soon, so it could be worth keeping an eye out for.

Source: XDA Developers