A man driving in Arizona on Friday crashed and rolled his car in the wee hours of the morning. And without another person in sight, he began to walk, looking for help. He apparently forgot he was wearing an Apple watch.
But that didn't stop the watch from doing its job, calling 9-1-1 at the crash site to let responders know there was an emergency afoot. Of course, by the time responders reached his car, the 30-year-old driver was on a walk, and missing. In fact, he was five miles away by the time a team of 20 rescue volunteers — not including a rescue helicopter — found him. From ABC15 Arizona:
When deputies arrived, a vehicle was located rolled over on Castle Hot Springs Road northwest of Lake Pleasant.
The driver was not located in the immediate area, so a helicopter was dispatched as well as approximately 20 search and rescue volunteers.
After several hours, the man was located about five miles away and had been trying to find help after the crash. He suffered minor injuries and was eventually reunited with his family in Surprise.
Newer versions of Apple Watches are built to detect high-impact vehicle crashes and will ask you to confirm that you are OK if a crash is detected. If the user doesn't respond within 20 seconds, an emergency SOS call should be delivered. Details on what specific notification was given to responders from this man's watch were not immediately available.
The moral of the story is, if you have a smartphone or smartwatch that is connected to 9-1-1, see if it's doing its job before wandering away from the scene of the accident.
