It's a simple idea but one which Invercargill schoolboy Thani McLaren hopes will save lives on New Zealand roads.
He has designed a coloured steering wheel cover and car sun visor cover to give tourist drivers unfamiliar with New Zealand road rules a constant visual reminder: green on the left and red on the right.
The Year 10 James Hargest College pupil said the covers could easily be installed in rental cars and could make a difference on the roads.
''I've used colour because you don't need words. Universally, green is good and red is bad.''
Rental company staff really liked the idea.
Thani said he was thinking about a project for the annual NZAS Southland Science and Technology fair and during a long drive with his parents, John and Wendy, they began talking about the issue of foreign drivers not sticking to the left-hand side of the road.
''I wanted a project which was in the public interest, and this idea was,'' he said.
His father, an engineer, helped him make the prototype, while his mother helped sew the covers.
Thani won a $1000 prize at the science fair prizegiving yesterday.
A proud Mrs McLaren said the family hoped someone would come forward to work with Thani to put the covers into production and possibly save lives.
Science fair committee chairwoman Samantha York said the intellectual property rights to Thani's concept were safe, as every project entered in the fair was gazetted with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.
