At yesterday’s presentation of the new iPhone 14 and Apple Watch among the important functions of the new devices, the ability to recognize getting into a road accident and calling emergency rescue services to the scene was noted. But Google Pixel could do that before.

The Car Crash Detection function was introduced in 2019, but was not announced as loudly as Apple. At the presentation of the Pixel 4, it was mentioned only once and only in one sentence.

It works by analogy with the iPhone — the smartphone uses built-in motion sensors, location and microphones to “understand” that the owner has been in an accident. If this happens, the device should beep and vibrate in an attempt to verify the user’s condition and can automatically notify the relevant services about the event.

“Your Pixel 3, 4, and later can use information like your phone’s location, motion sensors, and nearby sounds to detect a possible severe car crash. Car crash detection requires location, physical activity, and microphone permissions to work. If your phone determines you got in a severe car crash and calls emergency services, your approximate location and car crash data may be transmitted to emergency services by Android’s Emergency Location Service,” Google’s website says about the feature.

It is difficult to recall really “loud” cases when this function would have saved lives. But there is confirmation that it works. They were demonstrated by the company itself, just as there are stories on the Internet of people who got into unpleasant situations, and their phones reacted accordingly. In addition, there were no cases when the smartphone accidentally called rescuers. Although the company notes that during a strong collision, the function may be accidentally activated.

So Pixel smartphone users should still enable this detection just in case. To do this, you need to go to the Safety application and turn on the Car Crash Detection item. Additionally, you may need to give the feature permission to use location, microphone, and motion sensors.

Unfortunately, the list of countries in which it works does not yet include Ukraine. Car Crash Detection on Pixel works in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Japan, and Australia.