Making car power windows safer

Each year children die needlessly in and around vehicles. The Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, signed into law in 2008, is aimed at helping to reduce the statistics and making vehicles safer for children. The Act requires the Department of Transportation to research a number of vehicle safety issues related to children, including power window safety. Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a proposed rulemaking on adding technology known as auto-reversing systems (ARS) that would help avoid power window injuries by stopping a window if an obstruction is detected. NHTSA proposed not to mandate ARS on all windows and is seeking comment. Consumers Union (the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports) sent in comments in response to NHTSA strongly urging the government to require ARS technology on all light-passenger vehicle windows. (Read the comments from Consumers Union.)
 
The safety issue with power windows was addressed in part in 2006 when NHTSA decided to ban power window rocker and toggle switches from U.S.-manufactured vehicles. Car makers must now equip passenger vehicles with safer lever switches (which must be pulled up to close the window) by Oct. 1, 2010. A number of consumer organizations, including Consumers Union, Kids and Cars, and the Center for Automotive Safety petitioned NHTSA to enact this regulation, but at the time, the agency omitted including the auto reversing technology. NHTSA has determined that the issue will be largely addressed by requiring the safer switch types and that most fatalities are a result of someone (mostly children) inadvertently hitting the switch.
 
NHTSA’s research finds that 1,943 people are injured each year and six deaths occur from power windows closing on passengers. They estimate that the cost would be approximately $6 per window to add the feature. The technology is standard on most European vehicles, but it is on less than half the models from Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.
 
Even though NHTSA is not recommending the new technology on all cars, they are proposing to require automatic reversal systems on windows that already have a one-touch or “express up” mechanism to close without continuous pulling up of the window switch by the operator. However, because most rear windows are not one-touch or “express up,” Consumers Union believes the requirement for ARS should extend beyond these types of power windows. We have observed vehicles for which the auto-reverse function does not work if the switch is being held continuously.
 
We hope that this life and injury-saving technology will be mandated in the future. In the meantime, adults need to be extra vigilant when using power windows to make sure rear passengers and children are not in harms way. And let this be a reminder not to leave children unattended in a vehicle, especially one that is running or has accessory power on.
 
For a list of 2009 vehicles that are equipped with ARS see safercar.gov. (Download pdf.)

Read: "Which power-window switches are safer?"

For more on child safety, see our kids and car safety guide.

—Liza Barth

Comments

[srh]

This is a very disappointing development.

How many women would like their power windows to reverse direction when an attacker reaches through the window?

And $6 per window on about 20 million cars per year is an additional expense of around $480 million, assuming the bulk of cars have 4 windows. To save 6 lives. That's $80 million per life. Even if you factor in injuries, it is nearly $240,000 per injury.

How many lives could that half billion dollars save if put elsewhere? How many injuries could you prevent with that kind of money?

Why am I forced to spend additional money to subsidize those who don't know how to operate a power window?

Sorry, this is simply bad policy based on scare tactics.

[Fat Bob]

If 8 million passenger vehicles are sold per year in the USA, that makes $8 million per death. Seems expensive to me in the sense that you could probably spend the same amount of money and save more people's lives.

[Fat Bob]

In fact, it's worse than that - you'd have to add $6 per window per existing car to eliminate those 6 deaths. With 500 million cars in circulation, the cost per death, assuming a conservative 4 windows per card, is a staggering 2 billions dollars per death! I'm absolutely sure we can find better ways to spend this money.

[ian]

"one-touch or “express up” mechanism to close without continuous pulling up of the window switch by the operator"

Why does this feature exist?

Why would you want this?

[Jason]

Hmm interesting, apparently the German's have been on top of this for atleast 7 years. Both of my VW's (2002 and 2006) that have full auto down and up functions also have pinch protection built in. America is so far behind on automotive tech it's sad.

I love the auto up feature on both cars. Until you have it in a vehicle you don't realize how convenient it is, then again I don't ahve any small kids who could get hurt by it.

[david]

NHTSA should look at installing back up camera first as standard equipment. 600 kids were killed by backing up cars since 2000. That works out to about 60 a year versus 6 for windows. If back up cameras were standard equipment, the cost of it would go down dramatically.

Here is the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19353735/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

[Rob]

This technology has been out there for years and the automotive community has know since the 1960s that power windows can kill or injury children. Mazda during the 80s even advertised that its switches saved the lives of children and dogs(many dogs have also been killed by power windows). The numbers game played by the commentators above are one of the reasons we have so many problems in this country. Every improvement costs money. Lets just take out the airbags and seat belts that have saved thousands of lives as they add (the total system) significantly over a $1,000 to the price of a car. Why care about all of the preventable injuries and deaths that will occur. We are better than this type of thinking!!!

[Keith]

Why WHY are we forced to pay more $$ every year to save the STUPID from themselves. PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing. Watch your child or your dog or WHOEVER is dying by power windows.

The government (and my money which helps the government exist) DOES NOT EXIST TO SAVE YOU FROM YOURSELF.