Your smartphone is not only great for playing Angry Birds & Kingdom Rush Frontiers, it’s also a useful tool if you ever find yourself in an emergency while out riding your bike. I recommend, picking up your phone and copy and pasting the below text in to your notes app:
############
ICE / Accident Note
My number:
Emergency Contact:
Allergies:
Time:
Location:
Direction of travel:
Licence plate number:
Driver name:
Phone number:
Insurance company:
Vehicle make/colour:
Witness 1 name:
Witness 1 phone number:
Witness 1 email:
Witness 1 work:
Witness 2 name:
Witness 2 phone number:
Witness 2 email:
Witness 2 work:
CCTV:
Details:
More: https://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/steps-to-keep-in-mind-if-you-are-ever-involved-in-an-accident/
######
In the heat of the moment, with adrenaline kicking in, it’s tough to know what you should do. Having this text on your phone gives you a point of reference for the kind of details you should be making a note of.
Many cyclists don’t consider this when they are in an accident. We think “oh that’s just unlucky” and actually end up apologising in an accident instead of doing what we would do in a car accident.
If you were in your car and someone bumped in to you, you’d immediately exchange insurance details. You should do the exact same thing when you are cycling, as any damage may not be immediately apparent.
At London Cyclist we’re partnered with CAMS to offer cyclists advice following an accident. If you’d like to speak to them, enter your phone number below and they’ll give you a ring back.
You should also store this in your contacts…
Whilst the note template above is excellent, I also recommend having an ICE – In Case of Emergency – contact listed for first responders.
If you are in an accident, emergency services may look for this within your device.
ICE for iPhone
Head to the Health app on your iPhone (available in iOS 8 and above) and tap “Medical ID”. Tap Create Medical ID and then enter your details.
A first responder will be able to access this from your lock screen.
I also recommend adding an ICE contact to your contact list.
ICE for Android
Depending on which version of Android you are running, you should have an emergency contact setting in your phone settings. It’s often in a sub-menu titled My Information.
What else to note?
You can expand your ICE note and add more details such as case number if you’ve reported it to the police. Whilst you may expect the police to have a complete and accurate record of everything, you’d be surprised at how these can be lost. It’s worth having your own copy.
Another thing to add is a reminder to take photos. You should get a picture of the condition of your bike, any other vehicles involved, the road conditions, the junction, and so on. Anything you think might be helpful later – you can always delete the photos later.
Take a photograph of the driver and their ID (and of key witnesses). The person present at the incident not be the person that turns up in future and not the registered owner/user of the vehicle and that person may claim vehicle was TWOC at that time.