Inventor resolute on towbar safety

Intrepid inventor Dave Swanepoel, who immigrated to Tauranga from South Africa in 2001, is now 77 years old and has been living his dream for nearly a decade.
He is not about to give up on his business idea.
He developed a triangular-shaped towbar deflector which he believed would save "horrendous" leg injuries - stopping people from walking into the steel protrusions at the back of vehicles.
When the Bay of Plenty Times visited him during the middle of last year, Mr Swanepoel had just organised a manufacturing contract with Dannevirke-based engineering firm Metalform, a former Hawke's Bay business of the year winner.
Metalform modified the stainless-steel deflector and made three types to suit most towbars. It seemed the business was about to take off. Not quite.
Mr Swanepoel had spent his money on developing the deflector and was short of funds to market his invention to the wider retail market. He is still looking for an investor.
"I feel like my hands are tied behind my back and I'm shackled trying to run," said Mr Swanepoel, who lives in Papamoa. "I know it's very useful; it will eliminate towbar hazards on vehicles.
"If a lady, man or child walks into a towbar and hurts themselves, they would wish they had a deflector. It is visible and they can glide past it," he said.
Each year between 2004 to 2009, ACC received an average 800 individual claims for towbar injuries - and for each of those last three years the claims totalled an average $900,000.
Some of the more serious injuries occurred when tradesmen stood on the towball of their vans reaching for the ladder and slipped - resulting in broken kneecaps or shin damage.
Mr Swanepoel has personally sold more than 2000 towbar protectors, mainly in Tauranga. He has approached boaties when they are launching their boats, and builders working at houses he's passed.
He carries a cordless impact tool which can unscrew the towball and fit the deflector to the towbar in 45 seconds.
"I'm an old man now walking the streets and wearing out the soles of my shoes. But nobody else knows where I've walked and they haven't heard about the deflector.
"I know the product has to be marketed through promotion and advertising ... that's the frustrating thing."
He has the support of MTA Assured, ACC and AA, and the deflector complies with the amended Labour Department rule requiring any hazard on business-registered vehicles to be identified and minimised.
The deflector has been fitted to fleet vehicles owned by TrustPower, Tenix (formerly Siemens) and AA in Tauranga.
Mr Swanepoel first thought of the idea when he saw a 4-year-old girl run into the protruding towbar of her grandfather's stationwagon at a picnic spot in South Africa. She broke her thigh (femur) bone. "It was a scream like you've never heard. It stayed with me," he said.
Soon after arriving in New Zealand, Mr Swanepoel rushed to answer the phone and hit his shin on the towbar of his car parked in the garage. "The membranes around the shinbone are not a good match for steel," he said.
He set about sketching the deflector. "I know I'm going to get there. The key that is missing to unlock the (commercial) door is market exposure," he said, determinedly.