Bicycle theft is a complex issue, and multiple stakeholders need to collaborate in order to address the problem. The results show that the number of stolen bicycles has neither increased nor decreased in recent years. However, there is an increasing trend of stealing more expensive bicycles, particularly with the widespread introduction of electric bikes in the market, resulting in rising costs for the insurance industry and ultimately the customers. We also observe a significant number of unreported bicycle thefts, indicating a large discrepancy between the actual number of thefts and those reported to the police. Statistics suggest that over half a million bicycle thefts occur annually in Sweden, but only around 70,000 of these thefts are reported to the police.

The risk of theft significantly impacts the attractiveness of cycling as a means of transportation. A significant portion of the population states that they often or sometimes choose not to use a bicycle for some or all of their trips due to the risk of theft. Based on the accumulated knowledge, we propose several measures that can be taken to gradually reduce the extent of the problem. These measures include the implementation of some form of bicycle registry, increase public knowledge regarding risky behaviors related to bicycle parking, improved quality and capacity of bicycle parking facilities, and efforts to establish norms regarding the sale and handling of stolen bicycles. Reducing the prevalence of property crimes, including bicycle theft, can have a clear positive impact on public trust in the justice system and, ultimately, reduce the risk of other serious crimes in society.

The aim of this study has been to develop new Seat Evaluation Tools (SET)s with the geometries of an average female (50F) and male (50M) as seated car occupants, based on data from humanshape.org. The SETs have been designed to evaluate the occupant protection performances of car seats in a low severity rear impact.

Focus areas have been the motion of the spine, neck and shoulders to enable a human-like interaction with the car seat. Improvements have been made to previous designs of the neck spring and damper system, and a new solution for shoulder flexibility has been implemented. Soft body materials have been used to facilitate the motion of the torso, and a 3D thoracic and lumbar spine design has been developed.

Two physical prototypes, SET v0.1 50F and 50M, have been developed and all drawings and CAD models have been made available under open-source license on the OpenVT platform (https://openvt.eu/). The prototypes have been run in initial dynamic tests and the results have been compared to previous volunteer tests.

This work was carried out within the EU-funded project, VIRTUAL.