Road ID Hunting Tags for Motorists
By Rocky Thompson on March 24th, 2009
The Road ID is basically a med alert bracelet for hypochondriacs. You put your contact information on a little slip of paper inserted into the bracelet and then hope that the maniacal motorist who ran you off the road not only pulls over to drag your body onto the shoulder but also checks your bracelets for contact information and then call those people. I suppose it’s not a terrible idea to carry emergency information when you’re commuting to work, but I think the same could be accomplished with a Sharpie on the inside flap of your messenger bag-at least people might flip that open to go through your stuff after they run you over.
You can get a dog tag engraved at the pet store for $3. Then just attach that to your shoe. Cheaper, faster, and funnier.
While it could easily be used by bikes, I believe Road ID was created for runners. So when something bad happens and you’re laying there unconscious for whatever reason, they can identify you as well as have any vital information (example: Need heart beat to live.) Bikers–advantage of mechanical aides usch as wheels etc–can more easily tote backpacks and such. There’s no reason a runner couldn’t bring a hydration pack or perhaps write their info on their shirttag or whatever, but this bracelet/anklet thing would be more convenient.
I would agree though that if you see soemone with a bunch of metal tags hanging from the rearview mirror of their car, you might want to report them to the police to recieve the reward on whatever serial hit and runs have been occcuring.
i just wear it because it makes me feel cool. no really i had a pretty bad fall the other day on a trail will MTBing, and my wife was glad i had it. i didn’t need it since i walked/road away, but it did make her feel better. i have info written on different paraphernalia just in case.