BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Go on then how many on here are Blood Bikers? I ride for SERV Wessex    Use my RT when not on marked bike duty

Yep, SERV Kent. I take all the new applicants out for a riding assessment. Great excuse to ride a bike and help others :-)

Yes, me too. North West Blood Bikes Lancs & Lakes. I also do assessments for new riders, advanced riders and our Blues & Twos training.
It's a great way to give something back and gets you out when you may not have otherwise bothered
http://www.nwbb-lancs.org/index.php

Do my assessment next month for Leicestershire and Rutland Blood Bikes 

Love the job, doing what you love and making a difference    But not so great at 3am when its hissing down  8)

Used to do Surrey & South London (SSL) until I had to start working again and found myself away from home several nights a week...

Casbar wrote: But not so great at 3am when its hissing down

That's why on local runs on those occasions I take my car as it's insured for Blood Bike use and I also have a Car advanced qualification and I can actually do the short runs quicker at that time in the morning as I don't have to get kitted out etc 

iRider wrote: I also do assessments for new riders, advanced riders and our Blues & Twos training.

We have Blues & Two's fitted but don't allow the use of them as we're not exempt from exceeding the posted speed, running reds etc until S19 of RTA is ratified, so in our opinion for little gained it's not worth the agro and increased insurance costs that go with it 

Won't use my car, as I don't hold an advanced qual for the car, only IAM and ROSPA for the bike. Part of the fun is riding, just need some better kit, will sort before winter 

I'm a blood bike rider and coordinator for Freewheelers EVS in Somerset, west wilts and south Gloucestershire.  We have a fleet of 8 R1200RT-P s covering about 25-30k a year on each bike. The charity is really busy with just under 4000 jobs a year. We only use our own bikes if on standby when the four duty riders are overloaded with work. We use our own cars when the weather is bad and we can't use the marked up bikes. We do use blue lights for emergency status jobs but like all blood bikes don't have exemptions. Speaking from experience blue lights can help but hinder riding when in towns as we can't treat red light signals as stop and give ways.  I hope the government gets on with it and brings in Section 19 of the road safety act: it will help our work once we get trained up to home office requirements. Any news on Section 19 implementation date?

Benchmark wrote: We have Blues & Two's fitted but don't allow the use of them as we're not exempt from exceeding the posted speed, running reds etc until S19 of RTA is ratified.

I don't know where you get your legal advice from but you should look elsewhere. We are exempt from Red Lights and certain other road signs already. S19 of the RTA 2006 if it ever gets enacted will add speed limit exemption. As yet we have no idea what additional training that will add to our existing training package.

Sect 19 will cost about 2k in training apparently. I know Freewheelers EVS in Bristol apparently  also have to switch off Blues at traffic lights, we quite often RV with them. We in SERV Wessex also do not use Blues as the costs to insurance etc do not stack up.

I'm an active member of Dumfries & Galloway Blood Bikes

Quite a few of us on this forum. Great work :-)

This thread has me wondering whether I might volunteer. I've browsed the website and viewed the video. Is the next step to contact a local group or is there more pre-reading available? I've questions like eligibility, qualications /training, call out frequency, periods of absence due to my travels? Any more info would be welcomed.

Lucky wrote: This thread has me wondering whether I might volunteer. I've browsed the website and viewed the video. Is the next step to contact a local group or is there more pre-reading available? I've questions like eligibility, qualications /training, call out frequency, periods of absence due to my travels? Any more info would be welcomed.

Which area do you live in Lucky? My advice is contact the membership secretary of your local Blood Bike Group via their website. He/she will be willing and able to answer all your questions and arrange an induction if you choose to proceed.