REALRIDER FAQs

The App Certification Scheme was introduced by British APCO, on behalf of the 999 Liaison Committee (part of the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) to provide a standard to which any App developed for interfacing directly to the Emergency Services 999 control centres via BT Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), must comply. 

The App Certification Scheme is internationally recognised as an official standard for apps that can be permitted to connect directly to the Emergency Services.

REALRIDER® was the first motorcycle app to achieve this certification in 2016 after it passed the required integration, testing and compliance requirements for it to automatically send emergency SOS data directly to UK Emergency 999 Service. Each year REALRIDER® must be re-certified to continue sending emergency SOS date to the Emergency Services. 

With years of demonstrating high levels of regulatory performance and minimal false activations achieved, the REALRIDER emergency alerting service has been extended to deliver emergency SOS data across Europe, ROI, Australia and New Zealand via Bosch Automotive Solutions, and North America (USA/Canada) via Northern 911.

No. REALRIDER® is not a performance-based app. The app uses GPS to track your routes, operates the auto-pause system and provides your precise location following a crash. The crash detection system is triggered when sensors detect an impact. None of the information is recorded. There is also no record of your speed or any other telemetry data.

When you download the REALRIDER® app you will be invited to subscribe to the crash detection service. On subscribing you will be asked to add your bike and medical details to activate the service.

Monitoring key sensors in your smartphone, REALRIDER® looks for changes that occur during a crash, such as a sudden impact, rapid deceleration and/or tumbling motion followed by a period of no movement. If a crash is detected, an alert is triggered and sent to the emergency services based on your GPS location.

Should you be involved in a crash, REALRIDER® will activate and generate a ‘crash detected’ alarm on your phone. It automatically monitors key sensors in your smartphone to validate a crash has occurred, detect movement and to confirm if the system needs to stand down or send your emergency SOS data to the emergency services. If you are OK, you can deactivate the ‘crash detected’ alert manually by pressing the I’m OK on the screen.

If the alert remains untouched and you continue not to move, the phone will automatically send your precise GPS location, time of crash, direction of travel, bike, contact and medical details to the emergency services. You will be called to see if you are OK.

No. REALRIDER® is authorised to automatically send your location, direction of travel, bike, medical and contact details directly to the nearest Ambulance Service or Emergency Responder. 

No. This is to avoid causing undue distress to loved ones who are not on the scene and therefore cannot be sure of the situation. It also prevents multiple, and sometimes conflicting calls to the emergency services from worried well-wishers, which can put the service under pressure from dealing with multiple sources of limited information. 

REALRIDER®’s crash detection software was developed in conjunction with emergency service and control room specialists from the NHS – this ensures trained professionals manage the alert and welfare of the rider directly.

Dropping your phone will not trigger a crash detection alert when you are stationary. After activating one of the crash detection options on the ‘Ride’ screen, REALRIDER® starts monitoring your phone’s sensors when you are riding.

‘Auto Pause’ technology uses satellite data to ensure that the crash detection service is only active when you are travelling above a designated speed. Auto Pause automatically pauses the crash detection service during coffee or fuel stops and automatically resumes when you start riding again.

The crash detection system uses a combination of motion sensors and GPS to validate a crash. After which, an alert countdown gives a rider 120 seconds to deactivate it. Failure to deactivate will result in a call from the emergency services.

If you are OK, you can simply deactivate the on-screen alert within 120 seconds or answer the call. If you do not manage to do either, simply call the emergency services and tell the operator that your emergency SOS data was sent and that you missed their call.

There is no comeback, no finger-pointing, no associated charges and no follow-up from any unwanted or unexpected third parties.

REALRIDER® follows a tried and tested process to determine whether a rider requires assistance following a crash. The app is designed to send a rider’s location, contact, bike and medical data only if NO movement is detected during the phone monitoring and countdown stages.

In cases where a rider has a crash but gets up, walks around or continues to travel, REALRIDER® will notify the rider that movement was detected. 

REALRIDER® may not trigger for minor crashes where the impact level was not sufficient enough to trigger the system. This is designed to help minimise false activations that can be generated from potholes or rough surfaces. 

REALRIDER® can be used anywhere in the world for recording routes, enabling group rides, adding photos and comments, connecting with friends and adding bike information.

The crash detection and emergency alerting service is currently available across the UK, Europe (EU29 countries), ROI, Australia, New Zealand and North America (USA and Canada). For the UK, this includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is not available in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

If you travel outside of a territory or country where the crash detection service isn’t supported, the app will notify you of this (subject to network connectivity). If you travel from the UK into Europe or vice versa, there is no interruption to the service. 

In the event of a crash, REALRIDER® requires a network connection and mobile signal. The network connection is used to send a very small data packet (approx 1.5kb) to the emergency services, and the mobile signal is required for the emergency services to call your phone. If there is absolutely no data connection, then REALRIDER® cannot send the emergency SOS data. 

REALRIDER® is specifically designed to be carried by the rider. This is because in a crash around 90% of riders can be separated from their bikes. Keeping the phone on you greatly assists emergency responders in locating you quickly and efficiently. The human body also acts as a vibration dampener which in turn prevents false triggers. 

Riders who use QuadLock and other bike mounting kits can still use the service but we would recommend adding vibration dampening equipment. REALRIDER® may activate when mounted to a bike if it detects a severe jolt (e.g. hitting a pot hole, or kerb). In this scenario, the app will begin to monitor your smartphone for movement or continued riding and should automatically reset. There may be instances where you need to cancel an alert manually. Just open your phone and select ‘I’m OK’ on the app screen.

The crash detection and emergency alerting service has been designed specifically for use with motorcycles and we would NOT recommend using it to protect you by other modes of transport. There are no restrictions for using other features such as Route Recording and Group Riding.

If your phone runs out of battery whilst using REALRIDER®, the app will stop working and you won’t be protected by the crash detection service. 

Significant improvements to battery performances in recent years means that most modern smartphones can run services such as GPS for several hours and more. However, this still depends on a long list of factors including phone type, battery size, hardware, software and other variables – far too long to list. Battery life can also be affected by apps that are running in the background or require huge amounts of data transfer.

If in doubt, carry a battery pack that can keep your phone charged while you ride. Look for ones with an AMH of 10,000 and above. This is the charge the pack holds, and generally powers phones from flat several times on a single charge. The higher the AMH the more charge it can hold. Battery packs are inexpensive and readily available online.

To improve battery life while using REALRIDER®, ensure you lock the screen before you set off. Try quitting non-essential apps or those that are running in the background. Do NOT limit the power required by REALRIDER® to function, especially if you lock your phone. Some Android handsets will limit the use of GPS to conserve power after you have locked your phone. This means the app is moved to ‘the background’ and power or services to the app can be limited.

In the event of a crash, emergency SOS data is sent securely to the emergency services ONLY and is NOT passed to any third party.

To create a group, open the Safety page and click Manage under the Group Riding tab. Use the add riders icon (top right) to create a group with friends you’ve already connected with, or to invite friends from other places such as contacts and Facebook. You can activate or disable a group ride from this page or from one of the Record Route pages once created. 

As REALRIDER® uses Google Cloud services to power its Group Riding feature, there is currently a limit of 12 of riders that can be add to a group ride.