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Comment by noodlesUK | Hacker News Reader

I think that's probably the best way to do something like this, but it certainly won't have the reach of putting the feature in people's phones. Only newer cars with the feature would be able to make the call. I think it would make sense to require some feature like this as part of the standard safety equipment on a new car.

I'm pretty sure that this iPhone feature has and will save lives, and it may also risk them due to resource mismanagement.

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> ... but it certainly won't have the reach of putting the feature in people's phones.

I think this may be another job for Bayes. Apple's algorithm may be very accurate at detecting car crashes when there are car crashes, but most of the time there are not car crashes. As a result it may actually be super inaccurate at the 'population' level. So while it may have the reach, the incidence of false positives and the infrastructure misallocation may yield worse outcomes than not having the system in the first place.

> I think this may be another job for Bayes.

Definitely. I think it is difficult to assess the scale of the issue here without any raw numbers. In terms of resource allocation, this quote in the article seems to suggest that they weren't so stretched thin that they had any issues.

>Our employees really stepped up, as first responders always do really step up in the line of duty and they did. And we didn’t have any situation where we couldn’t help someone because of the amount of calls.

Yeah at some point Apple will have to make the calculation actual lives saved vs. useless dispatches of emergency services

A good individual idea not always turns out to be great when taken at a population level

Is apple paying for the false alarms? I assume they aren't (They aren't in the saving lives bussiness) I suppose they have no motive for this:

"Apple will have to make the calculation actual lives saved vs. useless dispatches"

Not to mention, car manufacturers would try to gate this feature behind a paid subscription model like OnStar. The industry took far too long to require rearview backup cameras, it would take years to require companies to have a system connected to a cellular network to phone 911.

The personal phone is the best place to fit this feature because it already has cellular communications and can work in any mode of transportation.

In Europe none of this is needed. Cars made after April 2018 have eCall built in. No need for an iPhone to do things it's not supposed to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall

And many modern cars have it as well in the USA. My BMW has it.

> Only newer cars with the feature would be able to make the call.

Make a USB cigarette lighter charger which also has crash sensors that the phone can use.

(and/or put them in dashcams)

(or aftermarket stereo/infotainment systems)

Do you think most car owners in the world have a functioning new iphone with them at all times while in the car?

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