The smart bicycle lock that blocks your mobile network
In the Netherlands 20% of all bicycle accidents involving youngsters is caused by using a smart phone while cycling. Dutch telco provider KPN developed a smart bicycle lock that communicates with the mobile network and temporarily blocks internet and voice reception when a bike is unlocked.
Challenge – Reduce smartphone-related accidents among kids riding their bicycle.. In order to find out what was causing them, we studied the effects of smartphones on traffic safety among children, in partnership with a neuroscientific research institute, and found that smartphones pose a constant threat of distraction to cycling children - even when they aren’t using them
Outcome – To keep kids’ smartphones from distracting them while they ride their bicycle, we made the distractions completely disappear. We enhanced the KPN cellular network, enabling it to temporarily block all data- and voice communication to a smartphone, and developed a bicycle lock - the Safe Lock - that acts as a binary switch.
