Should all drivers put stickers on cars to help keep cyclists safe?

Motorists are being urged to put stickers on their door mirrors to remind them to Think Bike, as the campaign reaches its 10th anniversary.

The Automobile Association (AA) has relaunched the famous campaign as it reaches its 10th anniversary, with Jeremy Vine and Chris Boardman both throwing their weight behind it.

Launched in 2014 accompanied by a TV ad campaign centring on the need to look out for motorcyclists, the campaign urges drivers to place small 'Think Bike' stickers on their door mirrors to remind them of the message.

The campaign is there to remind drivers to look out for all two-wheeled road users, says the AA, and with statistics showing 91 cyclists and 350 motorcyclists killed in 2022 it is as relevant as ever, the AA's director Edmund King, said.

Vine, a broadcaster who vociferously defends cyclists' rights on social media, said: “I’m so pleased to see that the AA is doing this because, if you're on two wheels, you do feel quite vulnerable. And I always think when you're in a car – and I drive too – you don’t always see that that person on the bicycle is a mum, a sister, somebody's son, someone's grandfather, maybe even their great grandfather. So, thank you AA for thinking bike.”

Boardman, whose mother Carol died after being hit by a truck driver who was described as 'distracted' by the judge who sentenced him to 30 weeks in prison, was part of the original campaign launch, and backed the anniversary relaunch.

“It's hard to believe the Think Bike sticker campaign launched 10 years ago, and I was there when that happened," he said. "The idea to make drivers just a little bit more aware of the vulnerable road users around them. Really glad to see that the AA is reinvigorating the campaign and I'll be glad to join in and help."

A new AA survey of more than 12,000 members showed that 89% of drivers sometimes found cyclists difficult to see, and the Association hopes the new campaign will go some way towards mitigating for that.

The campaign has been replicated in 24 countries, including by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, which has recruited Eddy Merckx to front its Belgian campaign with the tagline 'Do like Eddy Merckx - support our campaign'.