- Title: ISRAEL: Israeli boy invents vest for camels to improve safety of desert motorist
- Date: 6th July 2008
- Summary: (L!1) KAFR KASSEM, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) SEVEN-YEAR-OLD UDI HOCHBERG WHO INVENTED VEST FOR CAMELS SITTING ON HAY/ CAMEL WEARING VEST
- Embargoed: 21st July 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVABX0EJSITIMTX81BOFKQU0XFGS
- Story Text: Fatal accidents between motorists and stray camels have plagued desert countries for years, but an Israeli boy may have found the solution by fitting the animals with specially-made safety vests.
Udi Hochberg, a seven-year-old from Tel Aviv, developed the fluorescent-coloured vest as part of a school project after hearing about a motorist who was killed in a collision with a camel in Israel's Negev desert.
The boy and his father, Assaf, travelled to the Arab town of Kafr Kassem in central Israel, where they fitted a vest -- complete with a hole for the hump, and straps to secure it -- onto a camel.
"I heard in the radio that a man was killed after hitting a camel near Beersheba and that's how the basic idea came up. I came home and we talked about it and thought that if we could somehow mark the camel it can save lives," Assaf Hochberg said.
He said he and Udi had no plans to try to manufacture or market the vests, but that they hoped the idea would inspire entrepreneurs to adopt the idea.
"We didn't think of a profit, actually we said several times that if we could we were more than happy to pay each camel if he was willing to put this vest on," Assaf Hochberg added.
The Israeli police say 10 motorists have been killed in the last 10 years after colliding with stray camels in Israel.
"The camel was pretty calm about it. Actually, it was one of our worries that maybe the camels won't like it, or try to eat it, something like that, but I think he is pretty happy about it, and if he knew it could save his life I guess he would be even happier," Hochberg said.
Similar accidents involving camel traffic have been reported in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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