...being sensible about organising rides

[ontodva]

I maybe need some advice... I have just begun to organise short rides with people I have never met, about 30k, with road, easy off-road and towpath and riverside routes and I have no idea about my liability if a rider or a third party is injured or suffers loss, and no experience coping with accidents.
Can anyone offer some advice and is there a source of advice on this?

[Godzy89]

Not an answer but im a member of various guided ride groups on the Lets ride (British Cycling) website who have a lot of ride leaders
Had conversations with some of the leaders and they do a training course which probably covers most of your questions
You could maybe ask some of them if nobody else gets back to you on here

[slowster]

You have posted the same request for advice on Cycle Chat (and maybe elsewhere too). That means members of this forum will potentially waste their time providing information and advice which someone else has already provided to you on Cycle Chat, and vice versa.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-nee ... te.277234/

Please have the courtesy and consideration for members of this and other forums to state in your post that you have asked the same question on another forum.

[Eyebrox]

ONTOVDA: Keep up the good work. You will get a lot of support on this forum and from the likes of Sustrans and local authority sourced cycling initiatives.

[PH]

Cycling UK have a ride leaders handbook that's worth a read, or there's various workshops and courses aimed at ride leaders offered by CUK and (I think) BC.
I wouldn't lead a ride for strangers without being covered by liability insurance, my understanding (I'm not a lawyer, though I have been on one of the above courses) is that you're only liable if you've done something negligent. You might think fine, just read the guidance and don't be negligent, but what happens if someone thinks you have been? What I'd want to do is hand it over to my insurer to deal with.
Possibly the easiest way into being insured is to set up a Cycling UK affiliated club, I've done this and it isn't complicated or expensive. Those who ride with you have to be members of your club, but you can sign them up at the start of a ride, they don't have to join CUK, neither are they individually covered by the insurance which just covers the club and it's leaders. Your club can of course have additional ride leaders.
I suspect the risks are tiny and that most advertised rides on the Let's Ride website and elsewhere haven't any insurance in place. Your choice, I can only say what I'd do.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Firstly, fair play to you for doing it. I’d advise getting the first aid quali, and getting the B.C. ride leader ( or CTC equivalent) course as well, and setting the rides up as ‘guided rides’ as your bases are then covered regarding liability, as long as you complete the risk assessments and carry a first aid kit. I’ve never had anyone causing any problems myself, but it’s always best to cover yourself just in case.

[thirdcrank]

You might think fine, just read the guidance and don't be negligent, but what happens if someone thinks you have been? What I'd want to do is hand it over to my insurer to deal with.

This really is the issue. You may be 100% right, but proving it may be pricey and worrisome. This doesn't need to be something you did if rides are organised by a club. Unless you take steps to achieve limited liability, you may all be involved.

I used to be a member of a campaign group which made a big effort with National Bike Week. One event in Roundhay Park - owned by Leeds City Council - a member of the public slipped on some park steps and sought compo from Leeds City Council. One way or another they were referred to our group as organisers of the event. As an official Bike Week event, it was covered by the appropriate insurance and the claim correspondence went winging there. I've no idea whether anything else came of it at insurance company level and that's the beauty of insurance: they have the means to deal with claims, genuine or spurious.

[gazza_d]

As others have said, it would be best to speak with Sustrans, cycling UK, or British cycling, and get a ride leader course and lead rides under their guidance and coverage or as an affiliated group.

If a Sustrans ride then then you would need to complete a risk assessment and have it approved before a ride. It's not that onerous a process once you are used to it and for regularly used routes it only needs checking and updating every year or two. Not sure about CUK or BC..

Then you would be covered and protected.
It would be possible to take out the insurance to cover you privately, but could be expensive now.

Good luck. It can be great fun and very rewarding to lead rides

[mattsccm]

What is the basis for your rides? Are you just advertising somewhere and dealing with whoever turns up? The idea of leading complete strangers without some form of organisations seems strange to me. Where do they come from?
Are you making money out of this? Liability insurance will be needed.
Are you linked to a club? If the latter then either its CUK or BC insurance will provide cover under most circumstances. Ask your club officials.

[Darkman]

You have posted the same request for advice on Cycle Chat (and maybe elsewhere too). That means members of this forum will potentially waste their time providing information and advice which someone else has already provided to you on Cycle Chat, and vice versa.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-nee ... te.277234/

Please have the courtesy and consideration for members of this and other forums not to post the same request on multiple forums, at least not without stating in your post that you have asked the same question on another forum.

I don't see what the problem is - it certainly isn't discourteous or inconsiderate. I don't read cycle chat, or any of the other places the OP may or may not have asked this question.

[eileithyia]

Have led club rides for years, and will happily do so in future,but if I was advertising rides and taking on strangers, i would want to know i had some ride leader acknowledgement, with liability insurance cover, and basic first aid certificate with a kit on rides.

[eileithyia]

You have posted the same request for advice on Cycle Chat (and maybe elsewhere too). That means members of this forum will potentially waste their time providing information and advice which someone else has already provided to you on Cycle Chat, and vice versa.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-nee ... te.277234/

Please have the courtesy and consideration for members of this and other forums not to post the same request on multiple forums, at least not without stating in your post that you have asked the same question on another forum.

I don't see what the problem is - it certainly isn't discourteous or inconsiderate. I don't read cycle chat, or any of the other places the OP may or may not have asked this question.

Nor me,

[keyboardmonkey]

You have posted the same request for advice on Cycle Chat (and maybe elsewhere too). That means members of this forum will potentially waste their time providing information and advice which someone else has already provided to you on Cycle Chat, and vice versa.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-nee ... te.277234/

Please have the courtesy and consideration for members of this and other forums not to post the same request on multiple forums, at least not without stating in your post that you have asked the same question on another forum.

I don't see what the problem is - it certainly isn't discourteous or inconsiderate. I don't read cycle chat, or any of the other places the OP may or may not have asked this question.

Nor me,

Me neither.

The whole point of asking a question on a forum is to gather a range of responses and form a consensus of opinion. If anyone chooses to ask the same question elsewhere then they are just widening the net that will help to make an informed decision. Seems perfectly sensible to me.

[mjr]

If a Sustrans ride then then you would need to complete a risk assessment and have it approved before a ride. It's not that onerous a process once you are used to it and for regularly used routes it only needs checking and updating every year or two.

Sounds like someone has to do the ride before the ride? Not very practical IMO.

[LancsGirl]

You have posted the same request for advice on Cycle Chat (and maybe elsewhere too). That means members of this forum will potentially waste their time providing information and advice which someone else has already provided to you on Cycle Chat, and vice versa.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/i-nee ... te.277234/

Please have the courtesy and consideration for members of this and other forums not to post the same request on multiple forums, at least not without stating in your post that you have asked the same question on another forum.

I don't see what the problem is - it certainly isn't discourteous or inconsiderate. I don't read cycle chat, or any of the other places the OP may or may not have asked this question.

I agree. The OP has been perfectly courteous. In their very first post here, it should be noted. Different forums, on the same subject, have different areas of expertise. So if the OP has adopted something of a "scattergun" approach in asking the same question in several places, maybe that's the best way of getting a range of answers, which is usually good.

Of course, having made their single post here, and after being ticked off for it by one of the high post-count regulars, they may decide not to visit again. Which may well suit some people here.

On the other hand, if one is a member of several forums, which one visits regularly, and finds it very time-consuming to read every post, and is unable to recognise a duplicate post until one has read it to the end, and is so incensed by the time taken to read the post that one then feels the need to spend even more time asking the poster to warn readers that it is a duplicate post...

... one probably needs to look at one's life/forum balance.