Riding a bicycle has a lot of different benefits. It helps to keep you fit, can get you around for much less than driving, and it’s a fun hobby. Perhaps you ride your bike to work, spend your weekends mountain biking, or take part in races in your spare time. However you enjoy your bike, you can’t always guarantee you will stay on it. There’s always a risk of coming off it, especially when cars, other bikes, or even pedestrians are involved. If you do have an accident, you need to know what to do. Being prepared will help you stay calm if anything happens.
Coming off your bicycle can be a shock, especially if you fall hard. Hopefully, you have a helmet on, and your head is protected. The first thing you need to do is assess whether you need any emergency services. If a car is involved, you might need to call the police, or you could need an ambulance if someone is hurt. If you’re mountain biking or otherwise out in the wilderness, you could even need mountain rescue or perhaps to call a park ranger. Taking care of injuries is the most important thing. After that, you should speak to anyone else involved to exchange insurance details. Try to gather any evidence of what caused the accident if you think it was someone else’s fault. Then you need to work out how to get home.
If your bike is damaged or you’ve been hurt, this is where bicycle insurance comes in handy. Not everyone gets insurance for their bike, but it can cover a range of costs. You could get your bike repairs covered, compensation for injury, or loss of earnings. If you want to contact your insurance provider, check their cycle claims process to find out what you need to do. You can call the company or perhaps fill out a form online to open a claim. Someone will be assigned to your case to help you get what you need.
If you have insurance, it can help to cover the cost of repairs to your bike. Even if you’re not insured, you’ll probably want to get it fixed. You might have a preferred bike repair place already, but if not you need to find one. Rather than somewhere that repairs bikes alongside other things, pick a specialized service. Try asking other bicycle owners to see if they can recommend anyone to you.
When you come off your bike, it can be a little difficult to get back on. You might need to take a break while you recover from an injury or get your bike repaired. If you were involved in an accident on the road, you might be wary of cycling around cars. When you’re ready to start cycling again, it’s easy to keep putting it off. Ease yourself back into it and set yourself a date when you’re going to get back on for the first time.
If you have a bike accident, don’t delay in dealing with it. The sooner you can sort everything out, the quicker you can start riding again.