Spot the Bike:
Building Awareness from an Early Age
If you ride a motorbike, you’ll know this feeling well: scanning junctions, reading body language, quietly hoping the driver waiting to pull out has actually seen you. Bike awareness isn’t something that suddenly switches on when someone passes their driving test – it’s a habit that’s built over time. And what if that habit started much earlier?
Bloodrun EVS shared a simple but powerful message: “Teach your children to count bikes on car journeys… and they will automatically notice them when they learn to drive.” Coming from Bloodrun - a volunteer emergency response service made up largely of experienced motorcyclists - it carries real weight. These are riders who see the consequences when bikes aren’t noticed, and their message cuts straight to the root of the problem: awareness starts long before anyone gets behind the wheel.
That idea was the spark for our Bike Counter. We loved the thought of turning something so simple into an interactive habit - encouraging kids (and adults) to actively look for bikes, count them, and recognise them as a normal part of everyday traffic. It’s a small action, inspired by a big insight, and one that quietly reinforces a lesson that could one day make the roads safer for everyone on two wheels.
Bike Counter
Tap when you spot a motorcycle — help build awareness.
Was it a Honda bike?
Choose one:
A Small Idea with a Big Impact
Motorcycling has always been about community and looking out for one another. That’s exactly where the Bike Counter comes in. It takes this simple idea of spotting bikes and turns it into something interactive and shareable — a quick tap every time a motorbike goes past for a growing tally that shows just how many bikes are really out there.
Why Seeing Bikes Really Matters
There’s a solid reason this matters. UK road safety data consistently shows that a large proportion of motorcycle collisions involve another vehicle where the rider was “not seen” by the driver. At the same time, motorcycles make up a small percentage of total road traffic, yet account for a far higher share of serious injuries. In simple terms: bikes are rarer, smaller, and easier to miss – unless you’re trained to notice them.
Creating Better Drivers Before They Drive
That’s where awareness really starts to pay off. Research into hazard perception shows that people who expect to see something are far more likely to spot it early. By encouraging kids to actively look for motorbikes, we’re planting that expectation long before they’re behind the wheel. Today it’s a counting game. Tomorrow it’s a driver who checks twice at a junction.
Turning Awareness into a Game
That’s the thinking behind a simple idea: get kids counting motorbikes. Every bike they spot on the school run, from the pavement, or out with family, they hit a button. Was it a Honda? Yes or no. It’s not about brand loyalty at that age – it’s about attention. By turning spotting bikes into a game, kids naturally start looking for them. And once you start looking for bikes, you start seeing them everywhere.
Built with Shorthand