Rider Down at a Blind Crest at Dusk
You are riding alone on a rural two-lane road at dusk, limit 90 km/h, when you come over a gentle crest and find a motorcycle on its side in your lane. The rider is lying on his back about 5 m further on, full-face helmet still on, visor up, one leg bent under him. He answers when you shout, but his replies are slow and confused. There is a strong smell of petrol and a widening dark patch under the tank. Your side of the road is clear for now, but the crest is only 40 m behind you and traffic uses this road fast. There is no other vehicle in sight, your phone shows two bars, and you are on your own.
1. Set out your actions in the first minute, in order.
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Protect the scene, then the casualty, then call. In a blind-crest situation the order is not negotiable.
- Stop before the scene, not at it - on the verge if possible, hazard lights on, headlight on, positioned so your bike is a visible warning to traffic coming over the crest, not an obstacle in the lane.
- Warn upstream. If you have a warning triangle, place it well before the crest on your side; if you do not, use anything visible and stand where you can be seen, waving traffic down. Do not stand in the lane yourself.
- Call 112 (single European emergency number; ambulance 194, police 192). Give the road and the nearest kilometre marker or village, the number of casualties, that he is confused, that fuel is leaking, and that the site is behind a crest.
- Do not move him unless there is fire or imminent traffic danger. Confusion plus a mechanism like this means possible head or spinal injury.
- Manage the fuel. No smoking, no naked flame, nobody standing in the spill; if the spill is spreading towards him and there is any ignition risk, that is the one situation where moving him becomes the lesser evil - drag him along the axis of the body by the shoulders, not by the arms.
- Keep talking to him, keep him still and warm, and monitor breathing until help arrives.
2. What do you do about the helmet and the airway, and what information will you keep ready for the ambulance crew?
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Leave the helmet on. A full-face helmet is not automatically an airway problem, and removing it wrong is a fast way to turn a confused rider into a paralysed one. The exception is a clear need: if he vomits, if the airway is obstructed, if breathing stops and you must start CPR, or if the helmet is dragging his head into a bad position - then it takes two people, one holding the head and neck steady while the other spreads the shell and rolls it off, keeping the neck in line. Alone, your priority is to keep the airway open by supporting the head and jaw without twisting the neck.
If he becomes unresponsive but is breathing normally with no sign of spinal injury, the recovery position protects the airway; with a suspected spinal injury, keep him still and monitor.
Have ready for the crew: time of the call, exact location, whether he was conscious and how he responded, whether he was breathing and how fast, the fuel leak, any visible bleeding or deformity, whether he was wearing gloves and jacket, and anything he said about pain in the neck or back. Do not give him food or drink, and do not remove his jacket or boots.
3. The rider's friend arrives and says you should load him into a car and drive to hospital, and later the friend wants to leave before the police come. What are the legal and practical answers?
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On moving him by car: no. A confused casualty with a possible spinal injury, moved into a car by untrained people, can be made permanently worse; an ambulance also brings oxygen, splints and a route into a trauma centre. The only justification for moving a casualty yourself is immediate danger - fire, or traffic you cannot control. 'It will be quicker' is not that.
On leaving the scene: everyone involved has a duty to stop, to render assistance within their ability, and to stay and establish identity. Leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, or failing to help, is not a paperwork problem - it is a serious offence. Details to exchange or leave: name, address, phone, registration, insurer and policy number. Report the crash to the police; for injury crashes it is required, and the insurer will want the report number.
Practical points for you: do not discuss who was at fault, do not move the bike until the police have seen it unless it is a danger, take photos of the scene, road surface and marks, note the time, and write down the names and contacts of any witnesses while they are still there.