Hawke’s Bay pensioner Robert Benjamin is proof you’re never too old to make a difference.
The mild-mannered 88-year-old has a passion for inventing things, and he’s putting it to good use to help put an end to the age-old issue of sunstrike when driving.
The retired ear, nose and throat surgeon was thrown into the wonderful world of creation after seeing the serious consequences sunstrike could have on people.
“About seven years ago, my sister was blinded while driving from Palmerston North to Wellington, and she stopped her car in the middle of the road,” Benjamin told Hawke’s Bay Today.
“The driver behind managed to stop his car without tailgating and told her off for stopping in the middle of the road.”
He’d heard of many others in the community being blinded by sunstrike and crashing, sometimes resulting in injury and death, so decided it was time to do something about it.
“It took me a lot of time to try and work out a good solution. I first used an x-ray plate and finally found an engineering firm to produce some frames.”
After experimenting with a variety of coloured plastics, he settled on grey for the basis for his new creation.
“Yellow was a little too dark. Purple was good but the man at the firm did not have purple. In the end, I opted for grey.”
The device, in simple terms, is plastic screen with two adjustable pieces of elastic through it.
The two elastic bands fit snuggly over a car’s sunshield, locking the screen in place and allowing for it to be adjusted to where sunstrike usually hits.
“It was a labour of love to get the frames ready to be able to be attached to the car sun visor,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin’s first prototype came out in 2018 and more than 300 sales in the Hawke’s Bay community later, he’s just made another batch.
He’s mainly sold them through the many community groups he’s involved in and said people would often buy them as gifts for relatives or friends.
“I also went to the local AA and asked them if they wanted to put it in their store, but they said they had to get approval from head office.”
While Benjamin acknowledged there were likely other similar products on the market - such as clip-on attachments -they weren’t as easily adjustable and often didn’t cover the affected area properly.
He had never thought about getting the product into stores but said if there was interest, he would be happy to talk to people about it.
“That’ll be good if they want to, but I’m not sure how much they will charge for it. Sooner or later, I will have to hand it over to somebody.”
For now, people who want to get in touch can contact Benjamin directly. He’s selling them for $20 per shield with postage at $4.60 for 1-3 shields.
“It’s the cost of 4-5 coffees or lunch but could save many from serious accidents,” he said.
People can get in touch by emailing robert.jeyam@slingshot.co.nz or calling him on 0274 48 58 98.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things