Festival Rockers Told to Take Off Smartwatches

When hundreds of emergency calls came in from fans at the Download festival two years ago, the emergency services must have thought a disaster was unfolding at the three-day heavy metal gig in Leicestershire.

In fact, the calls were made automatically from smartwatches and other devices worn by fans because “the tech assumed that people in mosh pits had been in a collision”, according to Leicestershire police.

Now the force is appealing to those attending the festival this weekend to turn their devices to airplane mode or disable emergency alerts to avoid unnecessary 999 calls.

The number of 999 calls during the event doubled from the usual 600 or so over a long weekend.

“In previous years, due to wearable tech issues, we saw a rise of nearly 700 extra 999 calls in a weekend,” Leicestershire police said on social media this week. “All those calls had to be assessed … to ensure there is no threat, risk or harm, taking our contact handlers away from answering true emergency calls.”

Police are asking fans to stay on the line if their device makes an accidental 999 call, or to answer callbacks made by emergency teams “to let us know you are safe”.

According to one US personal injury law firm, mosh pits “always have risks and dangers” but can result in “enjoyable chaos and energy release”.

Some wearable technology includes a “crash detection” feature. Apple says its watches and some iPhones will sound an alarm and display an alert if they detect a “severe car crash”. Unless the alert is cancelled, the device calls the emergency services after a 30-second countdown. source