Garage Door Dangers

Every year since 1990, an average of 20,000 people have been treated in hospital emergency rooms because of garage door-related injuries. And although garage doors and automatic door openers are much safer today than they were years ago, the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission still recommends homeowners regularly inspect doors to make sure they're working properly.

The deaths of several children in the 1980s led the garage door industry and the CPSC to implement changes to enhance safety. Before 1982, garage door openers were not required to have an automatic reverse mechanism and many did not, says Ken Giles, a commission spokesman.

For the next 10 years, manufacturers voluntarily included reverse mechanisms on doors. Since 1992, the CPSC has required garage door openers be equipped with a sensor that detects objects before the door strikes them, according to Giles.

Giles says homeowners should replace any door installed before 1982 and regularly check other doors for problems.

Statistics from the 1980s make it clear older doors and lack of maintenance can be dangerous. Between 1982 and 1989, 43 children were killed in automatic garage door accidents, according to the CPSC. Many others suffered brain damage or serious injuries. Giles says he has not heard of any deaths attributed to the new doors.

Homeowners in cold climates should be particularly cautious. Sometimes snow or ice can slow or block doors and homeowners increase the power to compensate. Other key tips include:

• Teach children not to play "beat the garage door."

• Keep garage door switches high up on the wall so children can't reach them and make sure remote openers are kept away from children.

• Routinely check the door by placing a block of wood in its path and then operating it to make sure it stops and reverses before hitting the block.

For those who would discount the potential for serious injury, Giles shares these words of warning: "The garage door is the heaviest moving object in the house—it's not a toy."