What ID do Cyclists Carry?
If you have a cycling incident, will anyone know who you are?
I credit this full article to Martyn Kimberley of Oakley Pedalers, the club I’m a member of. He sent this round to us and it just proves the value of useful information you can gain by joining a club.
Do you know who owns this bike?
A sad news story caught my eye this week. A solo cyclist in Cheshire fell ill during a café stop and passed away in hospital. Police could not identify the man, as he had no personal details on him, so they had to resort to sharing a picture of the gentleman’s bike on social media. It raises the question of what identification you carry with you while out cycling. When out and about in ‘civvies’ we carry all manner of items that can be used to track our identity but generally when out cycling we will tend leave these items at home, leaving no means of ID in case of a cycling incident.
Add your name somewhere tin case of a cycling incident
You could buy an ID bracelet but of course you need to remember to put this on when you ride. Personally I never leave home without my mobile phone, so this is the obvious place to store important contact information. Many smart phones now have an emergency contacts screen which can be accessed to make a call to next of kin in the event of an accident, a google search will present a guide on how to set this up for your phone. You could even take a photo of emergency contact information and save this as the phones locked screen picture. For the non-technical among us, having a small contacts card in with your cash and house keys serves the same purpose. You could even place a sticker somewhere subtle on your bike detailing who you are.
One of the reasons we cycle is the freedom it offers, an escapism from normal everyday life. Thinking about emergency contact details is probably the last thing we want to do but please do so. Your loved ones will likely worry about you while your cycling anyway, so someone being able to contact them promptly in the event of a emergency or cycling incident is of paramount importance.
