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Your phone comes with a number of useful features that we hope you’ll never have to use — and crash detection falls into that category. Movement sensors detect when you’re driving — and when you come to a sudden and abrupt stop. Your phone or watch can then alert emergency services, along with family and friends, even if you’re incapacitated.
The feature is available on Pixel phones starting with the Google Pixel 4A, which launched in 2020. (It has been rumored that crash detection is built into the Galaxy S25 series phones as well, but if it is, Samsung hasn’t enabled the feature yet.) It is also an option on the Pixel Watch 2 and 3.
When a crash is detected, your phone and watch both sound an alarm and ask if something has happened. If you’re using a phone and a wearable together, you’ll see an alert on both screens, and you can reply on either device.
The slider options you get are I’m OK (to cancel the alarm) or Call 911 & notify contacts (to go ahead and notify emergency services and your contacts). If you haven’t responded after 60 seconds, the alerts get sent out automatically, with an audio message to explain that an accident has happened and where you are.
Setting it up on a Pixel phone
Unlike the iPhone, the feature isn’t on by default. Here’s how to enable it:
- Open the Personal Safety app that comes preloaded on Pixels.
- Tap the Features icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Set up under Car Crash Detection.
- Toggle on Car Crash Detection.
- Swipe down to Emergency Sharing and toggle it on.
- If this is the first time you’re turning it on, you may be taken to the Emergency Sharing page, where you can specify your emergency contacts (if you haven’t already). If not, and you want to specify or change your emergency contacts, then go back to the Features page and tap Your info at the bottom of the page. That’s where you can select your emergency contacts and enable your info to be shared with first responders when you make an emergency call.
Setting it up on a Pixel Watch
On Wear OS, your options are limited to the Pixel Watch 2 and the Pixel Watch 3. To alert your emergency contacts and the emergency responders, you’ll need a watch with cellular connectivity or a working connection to a phone.
The feature isn’t on by default, but its status is synced across Pixel devices using the same Google account, so if you’ve already set this up on your Pixel phone, then you don’t need to do it again on your Pixel smartwatch.
To enable the feature on your Pixel Watch:
- Press the crown button.
- Tap Safety.
- Choose Car Crash Detection.
You can also turn it on through the Pixel Watch app on your phone:
- Open the Pixel Watch app.
- Tap Safety & Emergency.
- Select Car Crash Detection.
You can’t manage emergency contacts from a Pixel Watch. Instead, open the Safety app on your phone, then pick Your info > Emergency contacts.
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