A motorcyclist’s Apple smart watch has possibly saved his life after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident and the device detected the hard fall and lack of body movement on the road and called for an ambulance and notified his emergency contacts.

The accident, being investigated by the police as a hit and run, took place in the residential district of Ang Mo Kio in the island city-state of Singapore on the evening of 25th September.

Motorcyclist Muhammad Fitri, 24, reportedly collided with a van and the biker was knocked to the ground.

He told the newspaper Lianhe Wanbao that he saw the van driving off before losing consciousness while he was lying on the tarmac.

Muhammad said that his Apple smart watch, model not reported, detected his fall and, when he remained motionless on the ground, automatically contacted the emergency services as well as important contacts, including his girlfriend.

According to reports, bystanders at the scene also talked with the man’s partner to explain what happened.

The girlfriend and Muhammad’s family found out later that it was the electronic device that contacted them.

The biker’s family said the streets were quiet at the time of the accident and that they are grateful to the smart watch for notifying the emergency services, as well as loved ones, helping to save response time and possibly his life.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the incident at about 8.20pm and the biker was taken to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

Apple smart watch models from Series 4 can reportedly detect falls and will show an alert or sound an alarm. If it is unable to detect movement for at least a minute, the device will then contact the emergency services as well as specified contacts.

Other manufacturers of smart watches also provide this function with their models, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.

The police confirmed they are investigating the incident as a hit-and-run.