Roll bar for quads already saving lives

A dummy trapped under a quad bike has successfully caught the attention of people passing by at this year’s Fieldays.

Vernon Suckling of Dargaville firm Lifeguard has come up with an invention he says has already saved lives.

Lifeguard’s roll bar is designed to protect people from being crushed when a quad bike falls on them.

While the product has only been on the market a few months Suckling said he’s already had reports from people whose life it’s saved.

“A mother brought one for her son – it was one of the first ones we sold – and she  rang me up one day and was like ‘guess what my son’s had an accident and your  roll bars saved his life’,” Suckling said.

Suckling then contacted the son.

“He went over the bank, knew the bike was coming and sure enough it landed on  him, rolled over his head and his back and if he hadn’t had that roll bar on it  would have broken his back.”

Suckling said the reaction to having the dummy under the bike has been great.

“Some people ask if he’s still alive, and a lot of people are stunned.”

He say they ask people if they want to give it a go and those who do are amazed when it doesn’t hurt.

Jack Du Toit, 12, put the roll bar to the test and replaced the dummy under the bike.

Once under the 300kg quad, Jack said that with the roll bar he hardly felt anything.

“It’s fine. It’s just like a sack of potatoes on my back, but not that heavy.”