The Mobility LAB Vitoria-Gasteiz Foundation, promoted by the Provincial Council of Alava and the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz, has awarded the special prize of ‘Your Idea Counts’ of the XXI edition of Alava Emprende to ‘Sustainable mobility and logistics’ to the project called Blink Lighting Saddles, presented by David Fernández Martínez de Lahidalga. The deputy of Equality, Basque and Governance, Iñaki Gurtubai, has been in charge of presenting the diploma to the winner.

“Innovation and technology at the service of road safety, in this case, for bicycle users, have been decisive in awarding the prize that we give from the Mobility Lab Foundation to encourage and promote new projects and businesses in sectors such as mobility and logistics. Both road safety and active mobility are two of the Innovation Lab’s areas of experimentation, and this initiative combines both,” said the director of Mobility Lab Vitoria-Gasteiz, Iñigo Bilbao, said the director of Mobility Lab Vitoria-Gasteiz, Iñigo Bilbao, during the event.

The initiative, awarded in the framework of the Ekin Day of Álava Emprende, consists of a comprehensive solution of signage and lighting in a wide range of bicycle saddles and adapted to the different uses of bicycles (urban, electric, mechanical and road) to increase the level of safety, promoting the safe use of bicycles.

The latest “Road safety thematic report-Cyclists”, developed in February 2024 by ERSO for the European Union, reveals that more than 2.000 cyclists die every year as a result of accidents and many more are seriously injured, with 70% of all cyclist fatalities resulting from collisions with motor vehicles.

The lack of visibility of bicycles is a handicap for cyclists, since when they change direction or brake, other road users do not notice their movements, generating risky situations for cyclists.

The fact that 99% of current devices do not have any communication system with other vehicles is evidence of an existing need in the market to develop new technological solutions aimed at the communication and safety of cyclists.

Therefore, in the solution presented in the award-winning Blink Lighting Saddles project, saddles make it possible to equip any bicycle with a communication solution analogous to that of any motor vehicle, with the saddle assembly providing signaling functions:

– Position lights

– Turn signals

– Brake warning light

– Emergency lights

– Buzzer

In addition, Blink Lighting Saddles offer unique lighting features that overcome all limitations of current lighting devices:

– Glare-Free Technology (ample brightness without generating glare).

– 270° Visibility Technology (light guides from the center to the sides of the saddle)

– In-Sync Technology (application of luminaires fully integrated into the saddle in synchronization with the cyclist’s gait).

In 2025, a total of 61 candidatures were submitted to the ‘Your Idea Counts’ contest with business ideas to be developed in the Historical Territory of Alava. In total, 18 have been chosen by the jury to opt for some of the awards in the different categories of the contest, totaling more than 10.000 euros in prizes.