Power window safety at issue
Two-year-old Zoie Beth Gates of Anthony, Kan., was supposed to be taking a nap in the back seat of her dad’s Ford pickup truck when a friendly dog wandered over and grabbed her attention.
She stood up and stuck her head out the window to reach the dog, but her knee accidentally hit the power window switch. The window went up and trapped her neck, killing her almost instantly.
“My husband was only about 20 feet away from the truck when it happened. Many parents don’t realize the danger of power windows,” said Britt Gates, Zoie’s mother.
No government agency has kept track of how many children die in power window accidents, and few standards exist to help prevent the deaths. But Kids ‘N Cars, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that promotes highway safety programs for children, says it has identified 42 child deaths and thousands of injuries from power window accidents since the devices became widely available in the 1960s.
Janette E. Fennell, executive director of the group, places much of the blame for the problem on U.S. auto manufacturers. Each death the group has identified has involved vehicles made by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group. The Big Three use a type of rocker switch that can activate a power window motor with a slight push of a button if a child leans on it with a foot or knee, Fennell said.
But automakers generally blame accidents involving power windows on parents who leave children alone in vehicles. Ford spokeswoman Christine Kelly said injuries and deaths associated with power windows are “rare events, but tragic reminders to never leave kids unsupervised in cars and never leave keys in unattended vehicles.”
Zoie Gates’ parents sued Ford for their daughter’s November 2001 death. The lawsuit recently was settled for an undisclosed amount, according to Oklahoma City attorney David Little, who represented the Gateses.
Little said he planned to file a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calling for the agency to require automakers to use safer power windows.
Critics say a power window that requires a passenger to put a finger in the lever to activate it would be safer. They also recommend using a power system with a sensor to stop a window from moving if there is an obstacle in its path, thus preventing someone from becoming trapped.
Federal regulators issued a rule in 1996 that required power windows to include an automatic reverse system similar to the safety triggers on garage door openers. But the rule applies only to power window systems with an express up or down feature, and critics allege that it has other loopholes.
Delphi Corp., the largest supplier of auto parts and systems, has a power window system that optically senses obstructions and prevents the window from closing. The technology was developed by Prospects Corp. and licensed to Delphi in October. Christopher O’Connor, chief executive of Prospects, said a European automaker has agreed to use the system in its 2005 models, but so far no domestic company has such plans.
Accidents with power windows are just one of the dangers faced by children left unattended in vehicles, a safety issue Kids ‘N Cars has identified. The group said four children died last year from power window accidents, and more than 40 deaths involved children who died as a result of heat inside closed cars. And about 58 children were killed when drivers backed over them, the group said.
The federal government has taken little interest in regulations or programs addressing these types of deaths, particularly when accidents do not involve a moving vehicle. NHTSA has suggested that the area is the responsibility of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“Both agencies have disclaimed responsibility,” Fennell said.
Of course, safety systems can help prevent deaths of children left unattended in vehicles, but responsibility rests with parents to avoid the risk in the first place, Fennell said.
Under no circumstance should a parent leave a child alone in a car, including when paying for gas, dropping off items or any other activity that involves being more than a few steps from the vehicle, Fennell said.
The practice of leaving the keys in a car with a child seriously increases the risk. In cases involving child strangulation from power windows, the car’s ignition lock was kept in the “on” position, typically to play the radio.
Fennell has drafted legislation that she hopes will be introduced this year requiring NHTSA to collect statistics on deaths involving stationary vehicles and study technological solutions to avoiding such fatalities.
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Times staff writer Ralph Vartabedian contributed to this report.
