Sunthorn Chimmuang and Phornchai Lee-al, students at Rajamangala University of Technology’s Nonthaburi Campus, are members of a development team that invented a device to prevent a motorcycle from being started if the rider is not wearing a helmet linked

Forget your safety helmet? Then you  won't be able to start your motorcycle if  you're using a newly invented device de- signed to promote road safety as well as deter thieves.

The new device, invented by a Rajamangala University of Technology lecturer, prevents a motorbike's engine from starting without a "signal of approval" from the helmet, which is turned on only when it is worn by the rider.

At a cost of Bt2,500 to install, careless motorcyclists might dismiss the need for the new device, as long as the helmet law continues to be ineffectively enforced by Thailand's traffic police. But given the helmet's dual role as an anti-theft device, the money could be well spent.

Inventor Damrong Sengmanee said he had registered his award-winning device for patent protection, but it has not yet been given a name.

He has sold a licence to a Honda motorcycle dealer in England for further development and possible eventual mass production in the UK.

The Thai Health Promotion Foundation, which has been campaigning on several road-safety issues, including the use of safety helmets, has provided Bt600,000 to support the production and development of the device.

It also granted an award to Damrong for his invention, which won the Bt100,000 first prize in the health-related category of Thailand's Innovation Awards.

Damrong is looking for motorcyclists who want to install the device in their helmets, at the cost of Bt2,500 each and a few hours of their time. Installation can be completed at the university's Nonthaburi campus.

"All brands of motorcycles and standard helments are acceptable," he said.

Sixty motorcyclists have also had free devices installed in their helmets as part of an evaluation test that will eventually involve 300 motorcyclists before September next year.

The device, a small sensor installed in the helmet, is linked to a receptor attached to the motorcycle's dashboard and then to the engine's ignition system.

Nirut Phram-anong, a freshman at the Nonthaburi campus who helped Damrong with the project, said there was no way a motorcycle's engine could be started without the "approval signal" from the helmet. "Unless, of course, the thieves carry away the whole motorcycle or dismantle it."