A Queensland innovation that can prevent road crashes caused by ladders coming adrift from vehicles is set to save lives and increase driver safety.
The Claw, which secures ladders to vehicles for safer travel, is the brainchild of Chris Renouf, who witnessed an accident on the M1 motorway on his way to Brisbane.
“A tradie’s extension ladders came loose in front of me, and they were like missiles before hitting the road and separating, spreading across four lanes of traffic travelling at 110kph,” says Renouf.
“It was catastrophic and fatal, and the event still affects me to this day.
“Since then, I’ve been wrestling with how to prevent this problem, and during the Covid lockdown, when I had spare time, I set about creating a solution,” he says.
Unsecured loads, especially ladders, are a significant cause of accidents around the world, with the US alone experiencing almost 1000 deaths and nearly 20,000 injuries each year.
While there are no Australian statistics, as most ladders falling from vehicles are never reported, there is dashcam footage and anecdotal reports shared on social media almost every week.
“Through trial and error and hours of design, I created The Claw, a ‘safety first design’ with the ability to quickly secure ladders on vehicle roof racks and transport them safely,” Renouf says.
“It’s the quickest installation of any ladder-securing device currently in the marketplace and is compatible with all ladder types, sizes, and roof rack configurations.
“The Claw also acts as a security device to stop ladder theft, a welcome additional benefit, especially with tradie ladders costing thousands of dollars,” he says.
The Claw is being manufactured in Australia by injection mould specialists AMEC Plastics on the Gold Coast and is gearing up for production in early November, backed by a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
