Kiwi idea to aid Mongolian miners | Stuff.co.nz: "Miners in Mongolia will soon be using new quadbike safety bars designed by a team of Wairarapa engineers.
Masterton firm Loader Construction has secured intellectual property rights for its twin-frame design, which it says will slow or stop rolling quadbikes, reducing the risk of riders being pinned underneath.
Each year about five people die and 850 others are injured riding quadbikes on New Zealand farms.
Loader has already sold six models of the rear-fitted frames to a Mongolian-based mining company and is now hoping to get feedback from Kiwi quadbike users.
Designer Bruce Hargood said he and a couple of staff members had started tinkering with the idea about a year ago.
"Basically there's too many motorbike deaths on quadbikes, so we thought why don't we come up with something that would be a safety feature for the bikes."
Like other safety systems, the bars provided a gap between the bike and the ground in case of rolling.
"It lifts the bike up over your body and stops you getting stuck under it," he said. "It gives you that breathing space, if you like, and means you can crawl out from under it.""
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