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Is This the Future of Bike Safety? An 18-Year-Old Invented a Contactless Lock

By Monica Buck

Bicycles are supposed to be fast. So why waste time protecting your bike from theft? That is the question that inspired the French Junior Science and Life INNOVEZ award winner Benoît Thomas to invent the first contactless lock for bicycles.

The 3D-printed design features a card similar to standard credit cards, which is placed in the part of the lock permanently fixed to the seat tube. Once the card is removed, the lock automatically slides through the spokes of the rear wheel, thus locking it. The award-winning invention also features sensors which trigger an alarm in case the bike is moved while still locked.

“Just put the bike against a wall or pole, lock the card, and the bike is locked,” Benoît said in an interview for Hauts-de-France.

Sounds great, right? It still seems the bike could be easily carried away, though. So for now, I’m sticking with my U-Lock. Nevertheless, the young Frenchman’s idea might be a signal of what we all could be using in just a couple of years.