A DEVICE costing less than £90 could save hundreds of motorists from death and injury each year caused by not wearing safety belts.
"The Lifesaver", a simple relay which prevents the engine starting when the seatbelt is not in place, was designed by John Dunne (16), a student in St Mac Dara's Community College, Templeogue, Dublin, assisted by his teacher, Mr Marcus Cosgrave.
In 1995, 32 drivers were killed in accidents while not wearing seat belts and 241 were injured.
"It's wired to the ignition switch, which sends power to the ignition coil when the key is inserted," the student explained.
The device, a modified switch gauge, interrupts the power being sent back to the ignition switch until the seatbelt is buckled.
Ingeniously, the device does not interfere with the actions of electronic windows, door locks or lights. If the seatbelt is removed while driving, the brakes remain in operation, the steering wheel does not lock but the hazard lights automatically come on.
It is the second safety related project submitted by the student for the Young Scientists Exhibition. Last year he designed a third brake light which would be activated if the motorist applied fast, hard pressure to the brake, alerting motorists behind to a potential hazard.
Despite a referral to Ford, John plans to study medicine when he leaves school. "I'm going in the opposite direction, although it's still trying to protect people," he said.
Elsewhere in the exhibition there was bad news for farmers, as a project by three students from Ashbourne Community School, Co Meath, indicated that cattle drenches could be up to 50 per cent less effective than expected.
Audrey Duffy, Ciara Lennon and Aoife Larroll, all aged 15, studied the faeces of cattle who had been drenched for round worm and found that there was evidence of roundworm six weeks after drenching, despite the fact that farmers were advised to drench every eight to 12 weeks.
There was bad news too for users of toilets in public places. In a project which involved some unsavoury research, three Dublin schoolgirls visited 96 toilets in Dublin and Kinsale, Co Cork, in an effort to determine the levels of bacteria present.
Lucy Jones (13), Aoife Crehan (14), and Ciara Gillan (13), of Muckross College, Donnybrook, Dublin, concluded that public toilets and those in entertainment venues and, worryingly, schools, were the worst offenders, while restaurants, fast food eateries and cafes numbered among the best. "We felt like sterilising ourselves afterwards," said Aoife.
Two projects concentrated on colour responses. Iain Clarke, Ronan Gibbons and Ciaran Drumm, all aged 14, of De La Salle College, Dundalk, Co Louth, found that a sample of salad cress enjoyed greater leaf growth and overall growth when exposed to yellow light, leading them to conclude that yellow was the favourite colour of plants.
Yellow and red proved to be the favourite colours of coarse fish in a Co Cork reservoir. Ross Macklin (15), and Andrew Field (14), of Douglas Community School, Co Cork, found that the fish in Iniscarra Reservoir, Ballincollig, responded best to red or yellow coloured bait, but were averse to blue.
The discovery could yet have a significant impact on angling worldwide, since Iniscarra is set to a world angling championship in 2000. The two schoolboys admitted that, following their discovery, they were "optimistic" about their chances.