Dunedin drink-driver’s iPhone dobs him in after car crash

An intoxicated Dunedin driver crashed into a tree and was dobbed in by his iPhone’s automatic crash detection feature.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said a 46-year-old man crashed his car into a tree in the centre barrier of Andersons Bay Rd about 1am today.

The driver’s iPhone called police automatically, Snr Sgt Bond said.

While the man told police dispatchers not to worry, officers were sent to investigate as the man sounded intoxicated over the phone.

When officers arrived they discovered the man had been drinking, Snr Sgt Bond said.

He tried to push an officer away and refused to undertake drink-driving procedures, Snr Sgt Bond said.

The man was arrested and charged with refusing to provide a blood sample and resisting police.

Snr Sgt Bond said the incident was the first he was aware of where an activation of the recently introduced iPhone feature had resulted in a police investigation and charges being laid.

Emergency services had received several false alarms since the feature was introduced late last year, including for people who had left their phone on top of their car and driven away without noticing it was there, Snr Sgt Bond said.

- oscar.francis@odt.co.nz