In 2010 a fatal accident took place in the Waikato involving a number of cyclists. It shocked many as it was another in a line of serious and fatal accidents around NZ.

Like many, Ken Riddle and his sons Donald and Brian were discussing how accidents such as these happen. Brian as a cyclist and a keen family man of young children who also enjoy cycling knew there had to be something that could be done to improve the safety of all concerned.

So he and Ken put their thinking caps on as we Kiwis do in situations like this and they went out to the shed and got to work. They asked themselves what is the biggest issue when you’re on a bike

Answer - being able to SEE behind you when you are focusing on the road ahead.

After stealing a hand mirror from one of the ladies of the house, grabbing some wire from the farm and a roll of tape they devised a cunning plan!

To create a mirror that had

• Flexibility
• Could be moved easily if required
• That was light weight
• That didn’t require putting holes into handlebars

THAT WOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF BEING ABLE TO LOOK BEHIND WHILE STILL LOOKING AHEAD

After a few more prototypes and some engineering intervention, the tape, #8 wire were thrown away, sadly the hand mirror didn’t make it back to its owner, but the flexible lightweight designed safe ride mirror was born!

AND NOW YOU, LIKE BRIAN, KEN AND LOADS OF OTHER CYCLISTS HAVE A KIWI DESIGNED SAFETY FEATURE THAT WE BELIEVE SHOULD BE A REQUIREMENT ON ALL BIKES.

After all, the first thing you do in a car once you’ve put your safety belt on, is to check your mirrors – right?

So why should cycles be any different!