Most recently, they have teamed up with hacking app Huufe to create a way to report road incidents in two easy steps.
When using the Huufe riding app, you can now use the new safety feature to report an incident – dogs, firework/bird scarer, gate/access issue, low flying aircraft/drones, off-road cyclist, or road incident. All you have to do is click on the red ‘Report Incident’ button and then choose which type of incident has occurred. The app will automatically record the date, time, and location, and send the record to the BHS. Riders also have an option to provide more information later by choosing to have an email sent to them which gives a link to the BHS Report and Incident page.
The BHS and Huufe hope the app will help make hacking safer by being able to deal with incidents in real time, and the more incidents that are reported, the more likely they are able to do this. In the future, they would like to allow the map to show all incidents on a heat map so riders can identify where there might be a troublesome dog, a blocked gate or even a road incident black-spot.
The First Reported Incident
The first incident using the app was reported only hours after it was installed. A road traffic incident was reported in Oxfordshire. When Huufe asked how he found the experience when reporting the accident, he responded with “It was ironic really, I had just noticed the button as I started my ride and then had cause to use it within minutes on a small road. A car stopped for me, but my horse spooked and rammed it. Thankfully no injuries to anyone, except the car. The button was simplicity itself, what a great idea.” (Huufe).
Next time you’re out hacking, make sure you’ve got the Huufe app downloaded and have familiarised yourself with how it works so you can report an incident right when it happened.
Spread the word by sharing this post so your friends can get the app too!
