ROSSVILLE — Rossville-area resident Rick Payne believes he has a safety tool that no one should be without.

Payne spent 14 months developing the prototype for his Breakout Safety Tool. Payne began assembling the first of the safety tools in October. Since then Payne’s company, World Class Safety Products, has sold about 2,600 of the tools.

The tool consists of an injection molded plastic handle with hardened stainless steel cone-shaped points on either end for breaking out a car window. On the opposite side from the handle are two slots for cutting seatbelts. Optional models come with either one or three powerful LED lights and rare earth magnets

The safety tool also is equipped with clips to attach the tool to the sun visor in a vehicle.

“If you are in a car with electric windows and get in an accident, you cannot open the windows without electric power,” Payne said. “With this safety tool, you can break the window and cut the seat belt to extricate yourself or someone else from the vehicle.”

Payne’s stepdaughter, Kathy Scharm, recalls an incident while she was living in Missouri when flash flooding swept away a car with a mother and two children in it.

“She was unable to get the electric windows down and her two children drowned,” Scharm said. “I believe if she had had one of these tools she could have saved her two children.”

Payne said with the hardened steel point of the tool, it takes little effort to break out a car window.

Payne said his tool does much more than most of the other tools on the market to break out auto windows.

“Most of the tools on the market now are merely a hammer with a seatbelt cutter on them,” Payne said. “They have no way of attaching them so that they are easily accessible in an accident.

“I have designed my tool with the visor clip and the magnets so you can get to it quickly and it won’t be tossed around in an accident.”

With the magnets and LED lights, Payne said the tool is perfect for changing a tire at night.

“You simply place the tool on the side of the car above the wheel well and the LED lights will pro-vide plenty of light to change the tire as well as provide illumination for safety purposes to passing traffic,” Payne said.

Payne is proud of the fact that all of the components of the safety tool are produced here in the United States. He has a work force of 10 part-time people.

“My shipping boxes, blister packaging and printed instructions are produced in the United States as well,” Payne added.

Payne has developed a professional model for police and fire/rescue personnel. He envisions one of his tools as standard equipment in every police and fire/rescue vehicle.

The standard retail models range from $27.99 for the basic model, which has the breaker points and the seat-belt cutter, to $47.99 for the deluxe model, which features the magnets and three LED lights.

Payne is using every opportunity to get his tool introduced to the public.

“I think once people see it and hold it in their hand, they will realize it is a quality product and very useful safety tool,” he said.

Payne is marketing the tool as a fundraiser item to area groups and as an advertising item or an award item to companies by having the company’s name and logo put on the handle of the tool.

Payne realizes that these are tough economic times, but he has several groups and businesses that have promised orders after the beginning of the new year.

Payne also has sales and marketing agreements with 32 independent sales persons throughout the country.

Although this is Payne’s first invention, he is not new to sales and marketing. He previously lived in Alaska for 27 years and operated his own sales and marketing firm.

“I was mainly involved in the shooting sports,” he said. “If you remember all the stuffed animal heads at the old K’s Merchandise sporting goods department, I was the one who shot those.”

Payne also served as a sales representative for Pentax and Smith & Wesson.

FYI

For more information on the Breakout safety tool call 283-7067 or visit the company’s Web site at http://www.breakoutsafetytools.com

The tool can be seen at Ray O’Herron Company in Danville.