[cbk57]

My question is directed to those who have served as an officer or been closely involved in the operation of a cycling club in the United States.

My local ride group is working on forming a formal club. One of the leaders has proposed having an accident report form to be completed in the event their is an accident on a club ride. This is an idea he came up with from working at a local ski resort. The purpose of the report is to accumulate some basic factual information in the event someone is hurt during one of the clubs rides.

Has anyone heard of using this type of form by a club? Did they find it useful? Were there any negative consequences of using the form that they found out about after someone was in fact hurt? What are the positives if any?

Thanks in advance for your help or input.

 

[brianmcg]

Sounds too much like work to me. We have to fill those out every time someone stubs their toe. Its a pain. For a cycling club, not really sure how it will benefit the club other than watch out for "Crashy".

 

[rm -rf]

Our local club gets insurance coverage through American Specialty Insurance & Risk Services, Inc. They have an accident reporting form, and an 800 number to call.

I think it's because our club is affiliated with the League of American Bicyclists. See the LAB insurance page.

 

[cbk57]

Thanks, that is the type of thing that I was looking for. I had heard of their club insurance but I was not aware that they had an accident report form.

 

[gte105u]

I do not knowledge on bike incident forms, but in a general sense it seems foolish not to have a procedure. Even if you get members and riders to sign a waiver law suits are very possible. Some basic facts (just facts not opinion on causes) if problems arise later when no one remembers. Of note is if they sought medical attention or not. Also will help you know if someone says they were hurt but was never in an accident.

 

[drussell]

We have one for our club here in Ontario. We're affiliated with the Ontario Cycling Association, who provides group coverage for us. The insurance is mainly 3rd party damage (or whatever the term is). It's in case you plow into someone's car, hit a pedestrian, take out Old Lady Smith's award-winning rose bush, or whatever. It doesn't cover personal injury and certainly not damage to your own equipment. Not 100% on where it sits with injury to someone else in the club though, but I'm inclined to say it doesn't cover that either.

We will fill in the form if there is an incident reported by the ride leader, mainly for record keeping just in case. We may or may not report it to the OCA though, depending on the circumstances.