About the Issue
American automobile manufacturers introduced power window technology into their production lines in the late 1940s. The addition of the feature into the market was an exciting advancement in automobile design and presented an element of luxury and convenience for users. But life-threatening problems associated with the operation of power windows soon began to emerge. By the 1960s, stories of deaths, injuries and near-misses of children becoming entrapped in power windows were making headlines. The break-down in the technology occurred when:
 

1. The automobile industry failed to consider the risks and dangers associated with a window designed to lift 80 pounds of force.
    
2. The automobile industry failed to design out the risks when they were recognized.
    
3. The automobile industry failed to warn the public of a risk known to them, but obviously unknown to consumers.

Today there are 50 years of proof accidental activation of power windows is to blame for dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries to children and others.

How does it happen?
The rocker-style power window switch found in most American-made automobiles is to blame for nearly all incidents of death or injury. Children inadvertently kneel or stand on the switch, causing it to activate. In as little as two seconds, a power window can clamp down on a child's head, neck or other body part, causing severe injury or death. A recent study by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis released in 1997 estimates about 500 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms annually for power window related injuries. Half of those treated in 1997 for such injuries were under the age of six. Sadly, some victims never even have the opportunity to become an emergency room statistic.

Dangerous Mechanics
The mechanics of an electric power window are very simple. Power windows are designed to lift between 50 to 80 pounds of pressure. In contrast, it only takes a small two-pound force on a power window's toggle switch to activated the window's motor and exert the upward raising force. Since only eight to 12 pounds of force is needed to raise the actual window of an average car, the excess available force (40-70 pounds) is more than enough to lift and strangle a child between the glass and the upper window frame. [Design note: "Zoie Gates weighed 27 pounds."]

U.S. auto makers are well aware of the dangers. In fact, one of the earliest incidents of power window entrapment involved the three-year-old son of Detroit's Mayor Cavanaugh in 1962. The ominous incident in the literal backyards of America's auto giants tragically foretold the future. These senseless, preventable deaths continue to the present day.

The continuing deaths and injuries attributable to accidental power window activation could easily be prevented by simple changes to vehicle interiors and the application of standard, off-the-shelf safety devices. Two glaring power window safety defects continue to fuel these senseless deaths:

• The continued use of rocker or toggle-style power window switches, which create the potential for inadvertent activation of the window.
   
• The lack of an auto-reverse feature on American cars, similar to what is required in Europe.

American auto makers plead poverty and attempt to place responsibility and blame solely on the shoulders of the parents each time the industry is faced with this terminal safety hazard. The evidence is overwhelming: auto makers know of the dangers associated with power windows. It is equally obvious parents are not aware - nor do they appreciate - the dangers. Otherwise, one must assume parents know their children are in a life threatening situations and just don't care - an argument that strains all bounds of credibility. Many of the aforementioned incidents occurred in the blink of an eye, with parents or guardians literally steps from the vehicle, and in some cases, with the parents in the vehicle. One mother's child was literally lifted out of her lap. Known incidents involve children as old as 15. Can auto makers reasonably maintain that his death, too, was entirely the result of parental inattention?

Fatally, stubborn manufacturers have been reluctant to change the design of their power windows or switches in order to reduce the danger to our children. Meanwhile, children across the country and around the world continue to be exposed to this threat, and manufacturers continue to shoulder the burden of responsibility for their injuries and deaths.

Driving for Change
The Zoie Foundation filed a petition in January 2003 with NHTSA asking the agency to consider one or both of the following safety issues and solutions:
 

1. Incorporating the push-down/pull-up power window switch as the minimum safety requirement for power window activation. The vast majority of American-made vehicles use the rocker or toggle switches, which operate via a rocking motion much like a see-saw. The danger of the rocker and toggle switches are in their above-surface design, which increases vulnerability to inadvertent operation. A child standing or leaning on a vehicle's arm rest could unintentionally activate the power window.
   
   In contrast, the push-down/pull-up design is flush with the surface area, making it impossible for a child to unintentionally activate the up-motion of a window by standing or leaning on any area housing the window switches. According to experts, nearly 100 percent of all power-window related injuries or deaths would be eliminated through manufacturer's use of this switch design.
    
2. The anti-pinching/anti-trapping feature causes the window to reverse its direction when it comes into contact with any object found to obstruct the path of the window, in the same way garage doors and elevator doors operate. Introduced in the mid-1980s, the technology has been incorporated in vehicles manufactured in Europe by both European and American producers, as well as into U.S. produced cars with the express-up power window feature typically found only on the driver's window. Although American manufacturer's object to the mandated use of this technology across production lines because of the estimated costs (less than $100 per car) associated with it, 75 percent of Americans say they would pay more for vehicles with the added safety feature (Study About Power Windows in Automobiles, Harris 2003).

As of August 2003, the petition is pending with NHTSA. For information on how you can help support the petition, click here.

Power Windows: A History of the Dangerous Truth

American Auto Makers: The Road to Irresponsibility