Google places value on its smartphones on software, not hardware, through special features. One of the most interesting features on Pixel phones is the detection of cars, and for one man, the feature saved him from being trapped for hours in heavy machinery.
A Reddit user (u / postnospam) with the name of Chuck Walker reported on his experience with Car Crash Detection on his Pixel phone, but it was not actually in a car accident. Walker was rather in an accident at the end of November on his property in Missouri with a Bobcat loader. The heavy machinery rolled off a list and fell into a small gorge, landed upside down (pictured below) with Walker stuck and injured in the Bobcat, blocking the emergency exit and partially blocking the main exit. He reports that he has seven broken ribs and four broken thoracic vertebrae (middle spine).
Fortunately, his Pixel 4 XL came to the rescue with Car Crash Detection. Although the phone was thrown out of reach during the accident, the event was enough to cause detection of car accidents, and since the user was unconscious after the fall, the phone rang 911. When the user woke up, he only shouted for help by hearing through his Bluetooth earpiece that an emergency transmitter is connected and talking to him. That dispatcher had already sent rescue services to his place, and minutes later the Southern Platte Fire Protection District’s first response helped him out of the wreckage. Walker says he, as a former paramedic, knew that his injuries were not immediately life-threatening, but that he needed weeks of repairing the broken bones.
If car crash detection had not been turned on over the phone, Walker would have waited a while for help. He says that the accident took place ‘deep’ in his private property, and that no one would expect him ‘for hours’. ‘By the time he was found, he said he may have been suffering from hypothermia, but he was also concerned about the possibility of burning through leaking fuel.
Instead, his Pixel had emergency services in place within minutes and did most of the work while also being unconscious.
If you have a Pixel smartphone, you can enable this feature for yourself. To do this, check the “Safety” app and in the settings of the app you will see an option for “Detection of car accidents.” It is disabled by default, but it is a feature that you absolutely must enable. Car Crash detection was originally exclusive to Pixel 4, but has since expanded to Pixel 3 and is also supported on Pixel 5, 4a and 4a 5G.
Note that car accident detection and the Pixel Safety app generally require different permissions, such as location and microphone. Walker says he does not like to give up privacy to technology, but although he never expected to need this feature, the ‘reward’ outweighed the disadvantage. ‘
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