My Road ID

I want to take some time here to rave about a piece of equipment I have that I believe evry cyclist, runner, jogger, or person who leaves their house on a regular basis should have- a Road ID

The week before my heart attack I got my first Road ID in the mail.  I had ordered one out of fear of the local drivers.  Indianapolis has gone to great extent over the last few years to make cycling around the city easier by way of bike lanes and trails which has been great, but the area they haven't improved is the drivers.  A lot of the drivers in this city are just plain dangerous; they don't know the laws regarding bicycles on the road (or just don't care), they text, eat, listen to head-phones, read, and just about everything else except pay attention to the road while they are driving, so collisions or near misses with cyclists and pedestrians are very common.

Within one week in the area around me there was a hit and run with a cyclist, another with a pedestrian, and I personally saw two stupid near misses between a car and a bicycle.  One of these near misses involved an idiot in a pick-up passing a cyclist then turning right in front of him in order to get to a McDonalds.  The guy on the bike was in a bike lane and had to lock up his brakes to avoid slamming into the side of the idiot's truck.  That night I ordered a Road ID.

My first ID was a basic one that gave my name and had my children's contact numbers on it.  While this ID didn't save my life or anything that dramatic, it did allow the hospital to be able to contact my daughter and let her know what had happened when I was in a condition where I could barely remember my own name much less phone numbers due to the pain, which kept her from going insane wondering about me.

After I got out of the hospital I ordered an interactive version of my ID that still has my daughter's contact number on it, but also has contact information that gives out medical info that emergency personnel will want to know; like the fact that I have a metal stent in my heart and what type of medications I am on.

While the ID won't necessarily help me if I am at home and have fallen and can't get up, if I have the same problem downtown it feels good to know that a paramedic or doctor can get information they need, and considering the amount of time I spend in traffic on a bike surrounded by idiots, this will probably come in handy.  Even off the bike, if I were to keel over due to my heart the information is still there, since I haven't taken this ID off since I put it on my wrist.

If you ride a bike, jog, run, or just walk anywhere near modern, fast-food and/or technology addicted drivers I would suggest getting one of these little beauties--today.