Jordy van den Boom
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.