15th August 2026
5 minute read
DocBike
Our aim is to reduce rider deaths and serious injuries, working with air ambulance charities nationwide.
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About Us
Who we are
The DocBike charity combines a highly qualified (consultant-level) doctor or critical care paramedic with two wheels to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads due to motorbike collisions. Wherever possible, this doctor or paramedic also works on the local air ambulance. It is part of their everyday job, to treat and save the most severely injured and sick patients and help them to reach the hospital alive.
When motorcyclists are involved in a collision, often the injuries are catastrophic, and no amount of medical care can save a person’s life. This is why a lot of the DocBike charity’s time is invested in preventing motorcyclists from being in a collision in the first place.
Working together with emergency services all across the UK, it is our aim to have a DocBike associated with every air ambulance charity around the country. We are a new charity, but the enthusiasm of local bikers, colleagues in the Emergency Services and other agencies throughout the UK means that we are expanding rapidly.
A lot of the DocBike charity’s time is invested in preventing motorcyclists from being in a collision in the first place.
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What we offer
Roadside Critical Care
All of our riders are serving doctors, paramedics or practitioners who look after critically ill and injured patients in the pre-hospital environment as part of their day job. They give their time voluntarily to help keep motorcyclists on two wheels because they know the devastation that can be caused when a motorcyclist is involved in a crash. Irrespective of the seniority of the clinician & the critical care equipment carried, the forces involved when a motorcyclist crashes are often simply too great to be survivable. That’s why the main aim of the DocBike charity and riders is to help prevent motorbike collisions from occurring in the first place through engagement and education.
That said, the riders have a duty of care to everyone, be they pedestrians, car drivers or people who are medically unwell and if a member of the public needs urgent medical intervention to keep them alive, the DocBike riders will provide that care just as if they had arrived by ambulance or helicopter; in a governed process in alignment with their local emergency services.
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What we offer
NextGen rider training
NextGen is a FREE course for anyone looking to upskill their riding, brought to you by the DocBike charity. Getting an average feedback score of 4.9 out of 5 in 2025, we know you’ll love it! Run over a day –we’ll cover:
Bike Maintenance
What to do at the scene of a road crash
Bike skills
Bike Security
Protective Clothing
Next Steps for you as a rider (taking your test / advanced riding)
You don’t need to be on L-plates to attend or have anything other than a CBT and a working bike. NextGen is designed for young riders of all levels of experience – right up to blue lights!
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What we offer
BikerDown
BikerDown is a FREE course, taught by emergency service professionals, on how to keep an injured motorcyclist alive until the ambulance arrives. It was created by Jim Sanderson from Kent Fire and Rescue Service and is taught all over the UK by emergency service personnel who are dedicated to saving the lives of others and helping the public to know what to do, should they arrive at the scene of a motorbike collision.
The Biker Down course covers the following modules and content:
Managing the scene of the incident
Module 1
How to keep yourself and the injured person safe
Protecting the scene from other traffic
Calling for help
These are all elements of the first module and when delivered by the fire service team serve to give people the confidence of getting involved when they first come across a collision, whilst reducing the risk of further injury to those at the scene.
How to keep someone alive until the ambulance arrives
Module 2
‘Snatch rescue’
Catastrophic Haemorrhage Control
Airway Maintenance
Helmet removal (when and how)
CPR
These are elements of the second module. We look for the rider of the DocBike to teach this module locally where possible. Having an air ambulance doctor or CCP who manages injured motorcyclists as a daily duty gives the course credibility and acts as a big draw for bikers to sign up.
How to avoid being knocked off your bike in the future
Module 3
Visibility – making yourself seen
Invisibility – how to protect yourself from others who don’t see you
Protective riding strategies
Finding out about the things you didn’t know – why bikers get knocked off their bikes and how to prevent against it.
BikerDown is FREE. Not only that, thanks to the DocBike charity, you go home with a FREE first aid kit, small enough to fit on your bike, but capable enough to help save a life.
Secrets of a Road Tester: DocBike
Watch DocBike’s video on some of their BikerDown content made in partnership with Motorcycle News (MCN).
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The Mission
Injury prevention
On average, every week in the UK:
6 motorcyclists will be killed
94 motorcyclists will be seriously injured in a road collision
Over 19,000 motorcyclists will be injured in a collision in the UK every year
When a motorcyclist has a collision, at speed; there are no roll cages, no seat belt tensioners, and often no crumple zones and no airbags. The simple fact is that the forces that the rider are subjected are so great in a crash, that the injuries sustained are often un-survivable. If the rider does survive, they are often left with crippling injuries.
Dr Ian Mew is an intensive care consultant on the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. Chris Smith is an advanced police motorcyclist. They saw first-hand the catastrophic results that occur when a motorbike collision occurs and so started the DocBike project. The first and only charity in the world, dedicated solely to motorbike injury prevention.
But it doesn’t have to be this way…..
Unique research carried out by the DocBike charity in the UK using Trauma Audit & Research Network data combined with police crash investigations show that up to 80% of these collisions could be avoided all together, if we equip motorcyclists with the abilities to recognise the warning signs when they’re riding and give them the skills to avoid the crash.
We don’t keep our findings to ourselves!
We are passionate about sharing what we discover through our engagement and research with others around the country and around the world. We work with a large number of government and non-government partners to help make a real difference. Working collaboratively with no other agenda, other than to keep motorcyclists on two wheels.
The DocBike charity also presents its findings at major events around the UK on a regular basis, including to date:
The National Major Trauma Networks conference
The Association of Air Ambulances conference
The National Fire Bikes conference
The National Fire Chief’s Council’s Road Safety Seminar
The National Institute for Health Research Seminar on Research Partnerships
The Road Safety GB conference
The Trauma Care conference
