The annual Bonnaroo Music Festival in Coffee County, Tennessee took place from June 14 to June 18, with more than 80,000 people in attendance. The festival is known for its live music, camping, and partying, and this year was no exception.

False positives from iPhone Crash Detection feature flood 911 Lines at Bonnaroo

However, this year’s festival was also marked by a significant increase in false 911 calls. According to Scott LeDuc, Director of the Coffee County 911 Communication Center, there was approximately five times the number of false 911 calls during the festival than average.

It is believed that Apple’s iPhone Crash Detection feature was behind the higher than usual false positives. The feature is designed to automatically call 911 if it detects a serious crash, but it has been triggered by festival-goers dancing to live performances.

The 911 Communication Center sent an alert to devices in the area advising to deactivate Crash Detection on iPhones, and this helped to reduce the number of false calls. However, even after the alert was sent, there were still a significant number of false 911 calls from iPhones.

Apple was contacted and offered to visit the county to assist, but the problem was diagnosed over the phone. It is suspected that the feature was triggered when festival-goers danced to live performances. The vibrations from the dancing caused the iPhone’s accelerometer to register a sudden impact, which triggered the Crash Detection feature.

Despite the increase in false positive calls, the emergency services were still able to manage the problem. All callers were located to confirm the 911 calls were false, as a precautionary measure.

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

False positives are a constant problem for devices with emergency calling features. Android is also affected by this problem. While the focus is on iPhone, false positives are also a problem for Android devices with emergency calling features.

In the case of Apple, it has already been forced to investigate false positives caused by rollercoasters, snowmobiles, and skiers.

The advice to iPhone owners who discover their iPhone has placed a call to emergency services is not to hang up, but to continue the call and inform the responder that it was a mistake.

What do you think about this issue?

Do you think Apple should do more to address the issue of false positives with its Crash Detection feature? Have you ever had your iPhone call 911 by mistake? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.