Power Window Dangers
Electric windows are a decades-old convenience feature. People use them everyday, but few know how dangerous these devices can be to children. Since power windows were introduced in the
early 1960's, children have been injured and killed each year due to power window related injuries. In the last twenty years, 53 children have died in power window accidents. Many of these injuries and deaths were strangulation or crush related.
The mechanics of an electric window are simple. By applying a two pound force on a power window toggle switch, the window motor is activated to exert an upward raising force of between 50-80 pounds. Since only 8-12 pounds of force is needed to raise the average vehicle window, the excess available force (42 - 68 pounds) is more than enough to lift and strangle or crush a child between the glass and the upper window frame.
The hazards of power windows closing on occupants has been known in the industry for years. In response to two separate proposed rulemaking changes by the NHTSA in 1969 that addressed ways to minimize the likelihood of personal injury when a power window is inadvertently operated and a person is caught between the window that is closing and the framework that encloses the window, the industry responses were surprising. One such design fix touted by the NHTSA was a
pressure sensitive device that would contain an automatic reverse feature. Ford admitted that it had developed a system that would interrupt, stop or reverse the direction of windows
when a predetermined force is exerted on an object interposed between the glass and the frame channel. However, "the high indicated minimum cost of such a system appeared to far
outweigh the resultant benefits, particularly in view of the existing Ford safeguards." By the time the NHTSA had adopted its power window safety regulation, FMVSS 118, in 1970, it had been watered down. Specifically, the NHTSA no longer required a pressure sensitive device. The NHTSA seemed to buy into the industry's position-"a requirement for these devices cannot be justified on the basis of safety benefits, cost effectiveness and economic impact." Power windows were not
permitted to be operable when the key was not in the ignition. The NHTSA had another chance in 1975 to mandate pressure sensitive devices. Again, it refused. In 1987, the NHTSA had another chance to mandate pressure sensitive devices. Again, it refused. Interestingly, however, the NHTSA raised the issue of unsupervised children being strangled by power windows. Also
in 1987, the NHTSA investigated 140,000 Jeep Wagoneers and Cherokees after several children had been strangled in those vehicle's rear tailgate power window. Even after Chrysler recalled 180,000 of these vehicles, the NHTSA did nothing. By 1991, the NHTSA mandated that reverse window direction features be used so that the window will reverse direction upon its meeting an obstruction. However, before the industry was required to implement the new rule, the NHTSA again softened its position and modified the force resistance specification and the size of the opening permitted before reversal was required. No further safety improvements have been made. Auto reverse is still not required (except on vehicles with remote window activation and one-touch automatic) nor are pressure sensitive devices. 
What makes the NHTSA's unwillingness to adopt meaningful safety legislation even more
disturbing is that workable solutions have been available for years to prevent these deaths.
Automatic power window reversing mechanisms exist in several forms:
- Optical sensors to detect an object in the window path;
- Voltage load buildup sensors which reverse at contact with an object; and
- Infrared sensors which reverse even before contact.
In Europe, 80% of all vehicles are equipped with a power window
auto-reverse feature. This includes vehicles sold by American
manufacturers. The cost for this feature is eight dollars. Sadly, as
of January 2002, only the Cadillac line and Lincoln platform were
the only American vehicles sold in the US that have an autoreverse
feature.
Since vehicle manufacturers are not providing the safety fix for power windows, the question that must be
asked is what power windows are dangerous and why? The answer lies in the switch itself. The majority of American vehicles use a rocker or toggle switch, which rest on a central
pivot, usually near the armrest. To raise the window, the switch is depressed or pushed forward.
If a knee or foot contacts a rocker or toggle switch, the window raises up
and can strangle a child. GM engineers have acknowledged in depositions that it would be safer to
design a window to go down when the switch is pressed down.
The lever switch requires that the user deliberately pull upward on the switch to raise the window. These devices were used by Ford from the 1980's through 1994. Some manufacturers have even touted how its vehicles have lever switches for safety.
 Ford's L.W. Camp wrote the NHTSA in 1996 stating that "closing the window requires the switch to be pulled and held…The intent of these features is to minimize the chance of unintentional activation of a power window closing that could, with other
switch design configurations, result from a child leaning or resting a foot on the switch." Ford re-introduced them in its 2003 Lincoln Navigator.
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