CycleryNorth81

Cyclist's Apple Watch with a 'fall detection feature' may have saved his life by calling 911 and alerting his son after he crashed his bike and was knocked unconscious

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...conscious.html

livedarklions

If this becomes a widespread feature on a bunch of devices, expect 911 systems to get overwhelmed with false alarms.

Lemond1985

You could eliminate 90% of the false alarms by passing a law requiring teenage boys to wear these on their left wrists.

Caliper

Well, being a watch, they are usually worn on the non-dominant hand...

Kidding aside, this actually sounds like a good reason to consider a smart watch.

livedarklions

Having lived with someone who had to wear one of these detectors around her neck, they're great if you like answering a bunch of calls asking if you're ok when nothing has actually happened. They generally get mediated through some sort of paid service that screens the false alarms out before 911 is called for the very good reason that false alarms are vastly more common than true emergencies. Having something call 911 directly will probably get banned if this feature gets really common.

A lot of police departments have adopted a policy of billing for going to the scene of repeat false burglar alarms because they were wasting so much time doing so and other departments have taken to ignoring automated burglar alarm calls. Expect something similar if a huge number of low-risk people start wearing these devices routinely.

Caliper

Totally fair to bill for false calls, just like there are consequences over an intentionally false call and I expect there will be policies set up to handle new technologies. I suppose I would rather use the service to notify a loved one or emergency contact. It may be an improvement over having my wife watch a Wahoo live track or using the RideID 5 minute stationary alarm though.

rumrunn6

my Mother-in-Law needs one

Milton Keynes

In my 15 years of police dispatching, I'd say that over 99% of the burglar alarm calls we got were false. We never charged for responding, though, but maybe we should have.

mynewnchome

I was thinking about this while riding this morning. My Lezyne has a feature where it sends an email with a link that whomever I choose can view a live feed of my location and ride details which is good.

What my thoughts were was that bike computer manufacturers could make an option where your bike computer could display a screen with your name, emergency contact info if it detected no motion for like ten minutes. It would be great on solo rides if you weren't able to communicate. As a first responder of many years I can tell you that not everyone would think to look in your seat bag for info.

Just random cycling thoughts...

terrymorse 

The Garmin Edge 830 also has this feature, which I activated the other day (embarrassingly).

I was about to enter a pedestrian/cyclist underpass, but another cyclist was coming up towards me, so I did a track stand and waited for the other cyclist to pass.

Tried to do a track stand, that is. Unknown to me, my chain had just dropped, and it's really hard to do a track stand without a chain.

Unable to clip out in time, over I went, and the Garmin alarm went off. By the time I collected myself, the Garmin had sent a text to my emergency contact (wife) that I was involved in an incident.

Fortunately, the Garmin screen said "click here if you're OK". Which I did, sending an all is well text.

Nice feature.

I-Like-To-Bike

I think an even bigger improvement would be for a reasonably healthy bicyclist on a routine ride to disconnect from such a worry-wort nannying system. If the ride is considered so hazardous or generates so much fear of falling and being knocked unconscious and left unattended as to warrant wearing such a system, I would find another place/time to ride or another activity to do.

sheddle

I think any alarm system which deals with low-probability events like fires/break-ins/etc will inherently produce a lot of false positives. Like that Bayesian probability problem about the disease test with a 99% accuracy rate

Miele Man

What happens if you stop for a bathroom break at a gas station or if you stop for a coffee?

Cheers

Milton Keynes

I don't think it's that people who use this system are filled with fear of wrecking or being run over, but I think it's just a peace of mind thing for "just in case." Kind of like how On Star can detect airbag deployment and call emergency services. I doubt the people who have this feature are constantly afraid of getting into a car accident. But whether you're in a car or on a bike, sometimes it happens.

It's kind of like how I have my personal information in my cycling wallet and on a sticker on my helmet. It's not that I'm planning on crashing or even afraid that I'm going to. It's just in case something unplanned does happen and I am unconscious or otherwise unable to give first responders any information.

Caliper

Honestly, if you haven't considered that any fall from a bike could result in an injury, you should rethink things. I'm not carrying anything specifically for this, my phone and my GPS do it, and I would have them anyways. All it costs me is slightly faster battery drain.

My wife lost some family friends who were hit while riding when she was a kid so is a bit nervous regardless of where I am riding. I am riding some of the least traveled roads in my county but they are public roads and all it takes is one car, or a loose spot that I didn't anticipate and I could go down. I don't ride slow, so am aware that a fall may involve more than a boo-boo. Without some sort of monitor, she would have no clue where I was. Has it ever happened? No, I rarely even get flats. She also likes watching my activity and while her fitness on a bike is not at the same level as mine, it helps her share in my interest, so there are benefits aside from safety.

livedarklions

Exactly, and I can tell you from experience, the fall detection is a whole lot less accurate than 99%, probably closer to 50%. If only one in, say, 400 people have a fall every day, the number of false positives will drastically outweigh the real positives. That's why they're generally only worn by high-risk people.

I-Like-To-Bike

In addition to the workload caused by all the false alarms, does every positive "fall" warrant/require a call to 911?

Seems to me even "positive" bicycle falls could be generating false alarms for 911 assets if these fall detection systems automatically call 911 in the event of a "fall" and request help.

I-Like-To-Bike

Probably could eliminate over 90% of bicycle falls that result in injuries (that do not involve ice or collisions with other vehicles), if due care is given to appropriate speed and control skills when riding, especially on downhill curves; maybe even using the brakes instead of relying on a helmet and a watch to allegedly save the bicyclist's life.

MoAlpha

It is instructive to consider that 96% of EPIRB (emergency satellite beacons on vessels) activations are false and those things are fairly well designed.

Flip Flop Rider

lol man, you're killing me here and I agree!