Google has quietly expanded its Car Crash Detection feature to five more countries, including India. However, the feature is only supported on Pixel devices — Pixel 4a or later.
The feature was first introduced exclusively to Pixel devices in 2019 for users in the US and has since expanded to international markets as well. Android Central was the first to notice the update.
To enable it on your
Pixel smartphones, open your Personal Safety app, tap on Features, and scroll down to "Car crash detection". Set the feature up by enabling your location and microphone services under Set Up.
How does it work?
According to Google, when the device detects a car crash through different info like your phone’s location, motion sensors, and nearby sounds, it can call emergency services automatically. In the case of India, the service will place a call to 112 and even notify your contacts if Emergency Sharing is on.
“When you have Car crash detection turned on, your phone can determine if you were in a severe car crash. Your phone will vibrate, sound an alarm, and ask if you need help, both aloud and on your phone screen,” the support page says.
You will be given 60 seconds to respond, where you can choose to call the emergency services or cancel the call. This is for cases when the feature is accidentally triggered because of high-impact activities,
Google noted.
In case, you do not respond, your phone will automatically place a call to 112 on speakerphone, say that there has been a car crash and share the device's approximate location.
However, there may be instances when the feature will not automatically activate. This could happen in case your phone is in Airplane mode, on battery saver mode or even in cases when you’re cell network is weak. The call can also only take place within the country that your SIM card is based out of and not on international roaming.
In 2022, Apple also released a similar feature to its Emergency SOS. It is supported on iPhone 14 and
iPhone 15 models with iOS 16 or later. Users with Apple Watch Series 8 or later, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra or later with watchOS 9 or later, will also have the service.
