What Happens After a Motorcycle Accident If You Can’t Speak for Yourself?

What happens if you're unconscious or unable to communicate after a motorcycle accident? Learn how emergency responders identify riders, what information can help, and how VEXA makes emergency details accessible.

Motorcyclists spend a lot of time thinking about how to avoid an accident.

We wear helmets. We buy protective clothing. We check our tyres. We maintain our bikes. We improve our riding skills and try to anticipate what other road users might do.

But there’s another question worth asking:

What happens if an accident does happen, and you can’t speak for yourself?

If you're unconscious, confused, seriously injured or otherwise unable to communicate, you can't simply tell someone your name, who to contact or information that may be important to those helping you.

That doesn't mean emergency services are helpless. Far from it. Paramedics, police officers and other emergency responders are trained to deal with situations where a casualty cannot communicate.

However, having useful information readily available can provide another source of information when every situation is different.

For motorcyclists in particular, it’s something worth thinking about before the ride rather than after the accident.

What Happens at the Scene of a Motorcycle Accident?

The exact response will depend on the circumstances and severity of the collision.

Where someone is seriously injured, the immediate priority for emergency responders is the casualty and the preservation of life.

That can involve assessing breathing and circulation, identifying serious injuries, stabilising the casualty and arranging transport to hospital where necessary.

Finding out who you are isn't necessarily the first priority when urgent medical treatment is required.

And if you're unable to communicate, responders have to work with the information available to them.

That's where things become interesting from a rider's perspective.

How much information about you is actually accessible?

How Can an Unconscious Motorcyclist Be Identified?

There are several potential ways authorities may establish someone's identity following a road traffic collision.

A rider may be carrying a driving licence or other identification. Police may be able to use information connected with the motorcycle and registration. Personal belongings can potentially provide further clues.

Eventually, your identity can usually be established.

But there's an important distinction between identifying someone and having useful information immediately available alongside them.

Your motorcycle tells someone something about the motorcycle.

Your driving licence identifies you.

Neither necessarily provides the specific emergency information you've chosen to make available.

That's a different problem.

What About Your Mobile Phone?

Most of us carry a smartphone everywhere.

It might therefore seem like the obvious place to store emergency information.

Modern smartphones can provide emergency and medical information from the lock screen when the owner has configured those features correctly.

They're useful features and riders should absolutely consider setting them up.

But there is an obvious reason not to rely on a single method.

Motorcycle accidents can be violent.

Your phone could be damaged, have a flat battery, remain mounted to the motorcycle or become separated from you during a collision.

You may also simply never have configured your phone's emergency information.

Emergency preparedness works best when there isn't only one route to the information.

What Information Could Be Useful If You Can't Speak?

Every rider is different.

For some people, there may be very little additional information they want or need to make available.

For others, there could be important details they would want accessible if they were unable to communicate.

Depending on the individual, that might include:

• Your name
• Emergency contact details
• Allergies
• Existing medical conditions
• Current medications
• Blood type
• Other information you've chosen to include for an emergency

Importantly, carrying emergency information doesn't replace professional medical assessment, clinical procedures or the systems used by emergency services.

It simply provides another potential source of information about you.

And you don't need to have a serious medical condition to think about who should be contacted if something happens.

“But The Police Can Find Out Who I Am”

This is something we hear occasionally, and it's true.

The police have established processes available to them when they need to identify somebody.

But that's not really the question.

The question is:

If you're lying at the roadside and can't communicate, what information would you personally want available with you?

For one rider, the answer might simply be their identity and emergency contact.

For another, it could include an allergy.

Someone else may take regular medication or have an existing medical condition they want recorded.

And another rider might simply want the reassurance of knowing they've created another route to their emergency information.

VEXA isn't designed to replace the police, ambulance service, your driving licence, your smartphone or anything else.

It's designed to complement the things you already carry.

The Problem With Traditional Emergency Information

Riders have carried emergency information long before VEXA existed.

Some put a card in their wallet.

Others put information inside their helmet or write an ICE contact on a piece of paper.

The principle is sensible.

But physical information has limitations.

Change your phone number?

You need to replace it.

Change your emergency contact?

Replace it again.

Start or stop medication?

The information could immediately become outdated.

Digital emergency profiles solve part of this problem because the information behind the physical identifier can be updated.

That means the product you carry doesn't necessarily have to change when your circumstances do.

How VEXA Works

VEXA was created specifically with situations like this in mind.

A rider creates their emergency profile and chooses the information they want to provide.

Their physical VEXA product can then provide access to that profile when scanned.

Depending on the VEXA product, this can be done using NFC, QR technology or both.

There is no VEXA app that somebody needs to download before accessing the profile.

That was an important decision for us.

If somebody is trying to help at the roadside, we don't want the process to begin with:

“Download this app, create an account and then continue.”

The interaction needs to be as straightforward as possible.

Scan.

Access the emergency profile.

View the information the rider has chosen to provide.

What If There's No Mobile Signal?

This is another question riders ask us.

The VEXA products themselves don't require batteries, charging or a mobile signal to be physically scanned.

NFC and QR provide the route to the rider's VEXA profile.

Accessing live online information can naturally depend on the device being used having a data connection, as with any web-based service.

This is why we believe emergency preparedness should involve layers rather than relying on one single solution.

Your VEXA product, smartphone emergency information, physical identification and the systems available to emergency services can all form part of that wider picture.

VEXA isn't about pretending those other systems don't exist.

It's about adding another one.

Why This Matters More for Motorcyclists

Motorcyclists face a slightly different environment from occupants of cars.

We're exposed.

During a collision, a rider can become separated from their motorcycle and their belongings.

A phone mounted to the handlebars may remain with the bike.

Items carried in pockets can become damaged or separated.

And even relatively straightforward collisions can leave somebody dazed, confused or temporarily unable to explain what happened.

That's why we believe emergency identification deserves a place alongside the other preparations riders already make.

We hope you never need it.

In fact, the best possible outcome is buying a VEXA product and never needing it in a genuine emergency.

But that's true of plenty of motorcycle safety equipment.

You don't buy a helmet because you intend to crash.

You buy one because you recognise what could happen if you do.

Preparing Before Your Next Ride

You don't need to become obsessed with what could go wrong every time you get on a motorcycle.

Motorcycling is supposed to be enjoyed.

But taking a few minutes to prepare for an emergency makes sense.

Check that the emergency information stored on your smartphone is current.

Consider carrying physical identification.

Make sure somebody knows where you're going when appropriate.

If you use an emergency identification system such as VEXA, keep the information in your profile accurate.

And most importantly, think about this question:

If I couldn't speak after an accident, is there anything I'd want the person helping me to know?

If the answer is yes, make that information accessible before you need it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I'm unconscious after a motorcycle accident?

Emergency responders will prioritise assessing and treating your injuries. Police and other authorities have established methods of identifying people who cannot communicate, while identification or emergency information carried by the rider may provide additional information.

How will emergency services know who I am?

Depending on the circumstances, identification may be established using personal identification, belongings, information associated with the motorcycle and police systems. A dedicated emergency ID can provide an additional route to information you've chosen to make available.

Can I just use the emergency information on my phone?

You should consider configuring your smartphone's built-in emergency information features. However, riders may choose to use multiple methods because phones can run out of battery, become damaged or become separated from the rider.

Does VEXA replace my phone's Medical ID?

No. VEXA is designed to complement existing methods of identification and emergency information rather than replace them.

Does somebody need the VEXA app to scan my product?

No. VEXA is web-based, so someone helping you doesn't need to have previously installed a dedicated VEXA app to access your emergency profile.

Can I update my VEXA emergency information?

Yes. One of the advantages of linking a physical VEXA product to a digital profile is that your information can be updated without replacing the physical product whenever your circumstances change.

Don't Wait Until After the Accident to Think About It

Nobody gets on their motorcycle expecting to have an accident.

And hopefully, you'll never experience a situation where you're unable to speak for yourself.

But if that situation ever happens, you won't be able to go back and prepare for it.

VEXA gives riders another way to make the emergency information they choose to provide accessible when they may not be able to provide it themselves.

Your ride. Your information. Your VEXA.

Get Protected With VEXA

Explore the VEXA Full Rider Protection Pack, VEXA FLARE and our range of emergency identification products, create your emergency profile and get yourself set up before your next ride.

Don't wait until the accident has happened before you think about it.