Q&A: Power windows and child safety

March 2011

1 How many people are killed or injured by power windows?

There is no comprehensive database that tracks power window injuries or deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counted an average of 5 children 14 and younger killed by power windows each year in 2003-2004. The agency estimated that approximately 1,000 children a year were injured by power windows in 2003-2006.1

2 How do power-window-related injuries happen?

In documented power window cases involving child injury or death, children often were left inside a vehicle without adult supervision. Children put their heads and/or arms outside the window and inadvertently leaned, knelt, or stepped on the window switch or in some other way triggered the power window.2 There also have been cases in which an adult unknowingly trapped a child when closing a window.3

3 What kinds of injuries occur from power-window-related incidents?

Sixty-eight percent of incidents result in fractures or crushed body parts. Other injuries include bruising, dislocation, laceration, and strain or sprain.4 Deaths among children have occurred after their head, neck, or midsection was trapped in the window for 5 or more minutes and they couldn't be resuscitated. In cases involving multiple children in a car, those who witnessed the injury were more likely to panic and call for help rather than try to open the power window.

4 What are the various kinds of power window switches?

There are three types of switches: rocker, toggle, and lever (push-pull) switches. Federal regulations intended to prevent power window injuries required manufacturers to equip all new passenger vehicles that have power windows with lever switches by Oct. 1, 2010.

Rocker	Toggle	Lever

Rocker switches are designed to pivot on a center hinge, effectively operating like a see-saw.

Toggle switches operate using small levers that push back and forth to open and close a window.

Lever or push-down/pull-up switches function by pressing down on the switch to open the window, but the switch must be actively pulled up to close the window.

With rocker and toggle switches, downward pressure (e.g., a child kneeling or leaning) on the switch can result in windows opening or closing. With lever switches, windows can't be closed due to unintentional pressure.2

5 What are automatic-reverse power windows?

Like many elevator doors, this type of power window automatically retracts when it contacts an obstruction such as a hand or arm. Child safety advocates support automatic-reverse windows as an added measure to prevent power window-related injuries and deaths. This feature would prevent injuries that lever switches don't address, for example, when a driver is operating the switch and cannot see the rear seat passengers.

In February 2008, the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 became law, directing NHTSA to consider amending the federal standard for power windows. NHTSA in February 2011 said it decided not to pursue a proposed regulation to require auto-reverse windows. The agency said serious and fatal injuries involving power windows already are being addressed by a rule requiring manufacturers to install lever switches in all new vehicles by Oct. 1, 2010. The remaining injuries are mostly minor and hard to quantify, NHTSA said.  "Given our present understanding of the data about the nature, source, and number of power window injuries, we believe that there are very few fatalities or serious injuries that any additional requirements for ARS (automatic reversal systems) could mitigate or prevent. They would instead address primarily 'finger-pinch' type injuries." 5

References

¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2009. Not-in-traffic surveillance 2007-Children. Report no. DOT HS-811-116. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.

²Office of the Federal Register. 2006. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Title 49 Transportation, Part 571 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Subpart 118 Power-operated window, partition, and roof panel systems (49 CFR 571.118). Code of Federal Regulations (October 1, 2006 edition), pp. 405-10. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration.

³Simmons, GT. 1992. Death by power car window: an unrecognized hazard. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 13:112-14.

⁴National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1997. Injuries associated with hazards involving motor vehicle power windows. Research note. Report no. DOT HS-042 417. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.

⁵Office of the Federal Register. 2011. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Withdrawal of notice of proposed rulemaking. Docket no. NHTSA-2011-0027; 49 CFR Part 571 – Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Subpart 118 Power-operated window, partition, and roof panel systems. Federal Register, vol. 76, no. 41, pp. 11415-11417. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration.