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CTC launches data-gathering app to help crash victims

iPhone tool makes incident-reporting easier; Android version coming

Cycle campaigning charity CTC has launched a free iPhone app to make it easier to record the details if you’re unfortunate enough to be involved in a crash, or if you witness one.

The app allows you to record all necessary information about the incident, including: witness contact details; third party contact and vehicle details; weather conditions; photos of the scene; equipment damage; injury details; and the time, date and location via GPS.

That’s all vital information that sometimes gets lost in the heat of the moment. You can then send the report directly to CTC’s solicitors Slater & Gordon, so that the information is on hand in the event of legal action.


CTC's Crash Kit uses GPS to record incident location

Paul Kitson, claimant personal injury specialist at Slater & Gordon Lawyers, said “The crash kit is a valuable tool for a cyclist who has been involved in a crash. It captures key information and will minimise the risk of essential evidence getting lost.”

The app has been developed in conjunction with CTC’s Road Justice campaign, which aims to make the roads safer by urging the justice system to take a tougher approach to bad driving.

The CTC is keen to point out that the risk of cycling remains relatively unchanged over the last ten years, and it has the numbers to support that.

You can download the CTC’s Crash Kit from iTunes.

An Android version Crash Kit is expected late January according to the developers who work with Slater and Gordon.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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3 comments

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A V Lowe | 10 years ago
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Data filtering might be a benefit from this as well - there tends to be a number of classic 'template' crashes which, if the road design, and inherent use features were properly analysed and dealt with, might stop a regular repetition of the same type of crash in the same type of road layout.

Studies also reveal that a fatal event is often parallelled by 10-15 very similar lesser injury/near miss events. Logging a string of near misses with common causal factors will provide the alarm call that might just save a life. Equally it will deliver a strong message at any inquest (FAI) that there is a problem deeper than just a 1-off "accident" that needs fixing

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jarredscycling | 10 years ago
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I guess the problem becomes remembering to use the app in the heat of the moment. Should partner with the ICE Dot sensor so that if it is triggered this app pops up and says fill me out

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kitkat | 10 years ago
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Just had a look as it makes good sense. The only one issue immediately jumps out, when recording the weather conditions you get sun or rain, no option for the cloudy/overcast which in Britain, is probably 60% of the time.

Hopefully I never have to use it but it's now there if I need it.

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