Smartphone app helps save motorcyclist seriously injured in crash
Paramedics rushed an unconscious man to hospital after his iPhone crash detection app called emergency services following a motorcycle accident in New Taipei City early yesterday morning, April 6.
According to a United Daily News report, the 53-year-old bus driver, named Zheng, was riding a motor scooter to work when he crashed into a traffic island on Hecheng Road in Zhonghe District at around 5:10 am.
Zheng was seriously injured and unconscious following the accident. Fortunately, his iPhone crash detection app kicked in, and after 20 seconds the app called 119 and provided GPS coordinates to the location of the accident.
The New Taipei City Fire Department dispatched an ambulance, and paramedics rushed Zheng to the emergency ward at the Shuang Ho Hospital, just 300 meters away.
Zheng was diagnosed as having suffered a head injury and broken ribs and is currently being treated in the intensive care ward where he remains in a coma with a Glasgow coma index of 6.
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.
My first thought: this accident could have been (and probably was) caused by the rider USING and being distracted by the so-called “smartphone.” Whether that’s the case or not, it should be a jailable offense to use such communication devices when operating a vehicle unless absolutely and provably necessary, and that should be strictly enforced. It should also be accompanied by a massive “public information campaign” to warn the public of the dangers of such behaviour and the possible penalties. This was done successfully with crash helmets and safety belts, so it definitely can be done. My second thought: the supposed scene of the accident does not seem to bear any resemblance to the attached camera footage. Even the road doesn’t look the same, so I don’t know what’s the point of it.