Byker SOS: help is one press away

Every rider knows the feeling. The bike coughs and dies on a back road, a tyre goes flat miles from anywhere, or the worst happens and you're picking yourself up off the tarmac. In that moment, the hardest part is often telling someone where you are.

Byker SOS fixes that. One button tells the people who can help what's happened and exactly where you are, live, until you're sorted. It's free for every rider, and it always will be.

Get ready before you need it

Open your profile, tap Settings and go to Byker SOS. It takes two minutes, and it's worth doing before your next ride.

• Emergency contacts. Add your Byker friends, and people who aren't on Byker, like a partner or a parent, with their name and phone number.
• Details to share. Each one is optional and stays private until you start an SOS: your phone number, your bike from your garage (make, model, colour and registration) and medical notes such as your blood group or allergies.
• SOS settings. Choose exactly what an SOS shares: your location, your phone number, your bike and your medical notes. Each one is a switch, and you can change them any time.

When something goes wrong

Tap the red SOS button. It's on the map and on the recording screen, so it's always close.

Say what's happened: Breakdown, Puncture, Out of fuel, Crash (I'm OK), Crash (injured) or Other. Then press and hold the button for two seconds to send your SOS. Holding it means a pocket can't start one by accident.

Keep Byker open while your SOS is on. Your position updates while the app is running. If you close it, people see the last place it sent.

If you or anyone else is hurt, call 999 first. For a crash with an injury, Byker shows you Call 999 before anything else. Byker is not an emergency service and never calls them for you.

Who's told, and what they see

The moment you start an SOS:

• Your Byker contacts and friends get an urgent notification. They see you on a live map with what's happened, where you are in words (the nearest road, postcode and an Ordnance Survey grid reference), your battery level and the details you chose to share, with buttons to Call, Message and get Directions.
• Contacts who aren't on Byker get a private link, sent by text or WhatsApp straight from your phone. It opens a page with your live position and details, with no app or sign-in needed. The link stops working the moment your SOS ends.
• Your clubs, if you choose, are told too.
• Riders nearby, if you choose. Riders who've turned on I'll help riders nearby and are within 10 miles see roughly where you are, if you share your location. When one taps I'm coming, they see exactly where you are and you're told who's on their way.

When you're sorted

Tap I'm OK, end SOS. Everyone who was told hears you're fine, and your position is deleted straight away. If you forget, an SOS ends by itself after 12 hours.

After a crash, Byker keeps an eye out for you. If you haven't moved for 15 minutes, it asks if you're OK. If there's no answer, your contacts are told so they can try calling you, or call 999 if they think you're hurt.

Private by design

• Your position is only kept while your SOS is on, and only the latest one. It's never saved to your account or our database, and it's deleted the moment your SOS ends.
• Riders nearby never see exactly where you are unless they say they're coming to help.
• You choose what's shared. Your details stay private until you start an SOS, only the people you've told see them, and your SOS settings decide which ones go.
• Helpers' areas stay rough. If you offer to help riders nearby, Byker only keeps roughly where you are, to within about 5 km.
• Riders under 18 share with their own contacts and friends, never with clubs or riders nearby.
• No outside services. Byker works out where you are in words itself, and the link goes to your contacts from your own phone. Their names and numbers are never shown to anyone else.

Set it up today

Open Byker SOS in your Settings, add a couple of contacts, choose what to share, and ride knowing help is one press away. Then tell your riding mates to do the same.

Got ideas for making SOS even better? Let us know in the comments.