I don't know why this bit of news was on the TV last night, because it's a year old (as I've located it on the internet). Maybe there was some new model car touting the safer switches, or something. At any rate, I thought it was quite interesting.
September 14, 2003
"Regulators order safer power window switches; New rules hope to end kids' deaths"
Federal safety officials Monday announced new rules that will phase out common power window switches that have been linked to the deaths of eight children this year. The regulations, which take effect Oct. 1, 2008, call for automakers to replace power window switches with safer designs as car and light truck models are restyled or replaced, government officials said.
"This regulation will prevent the tragedy of a child's head or limb being caught in a power window," said Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA").
Consumer and parent groups have pushed for the change for years. With the extended phase-in period, the cost to the auto industry - about $50 per vehicle - will be minimal, Runge said. The new requirements must be implemented by the 2009 model year, but most automakers already are adopting new switch designs.
Consumer group Kids and Cars says at least 37 children have been killed when they pressed window switches while leaning out of vehicles.
...Janette Fennell of Kids and Cars says it is "unconscionable" that it has taken NHTSA this long to act. "Eight kids were killed this year," says Fennell. Her group led efforts to mandate the safer switches. "Those kids weren't even born" when Moore's petition was filed, she says.
As long ago as 1968, safety advocate Ralph Nader, now a presidential candidate, asked NHTSA to warn consumers about the dangers of power windows, which he said were "callously designed to thrust upward with cruel force."
Vehicle Injuries article
"Regulators order safer power window switches; New rules hope to end kids' deaths"
Federal safety officials Monday announced new rules that will phase out common power window switches that have been linked to the deaths of eight children this year. The regulations, which take effect Oct. 1, 2008, call for automakers to replace power window switches with safer designs as car and light truck models are restyled or replaced, government officials said.
"This regulation will prevent the tragedy of a child's head or limb being caught in a power window," said Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA").
Consumer and parent groups have pushed for the change for years. With the extended phase-in period, the cost to the auto industry - about $50 per vehicle - will be minimal, Runge said. The new requirements must be implemented by the 2009 model year, but most automakers already are adopting new switch designs.
Consumer group Kids and Cars says at least 37 children have been killed when they pressed window switches while leaning out of vehicles.
...Janette Fennell of Kids and Cars says it is "unconscionable" that it has taken NHTSA this long to act. "Eight kids were killed this year," says Fennell. Her group led efforts to mandate the safer switches. "Those kids weren't even born" when Moore's petition was filed, she says.
As long ago as 1968, safety advocate Ralph Nader, now a presidential candidate, asked NHTSA to warn consumers about the dangers of power windows, which he said were "callously designed to thrust upward with cruel force."
Geez, Ralph makes it sound like the car manufacturers were designing windows with the intent to maim and kill kids.
But maybe they are. After all, they've managed to postpone the change. $50 per vehicle versus 8 dead kids a year. I think that comes under the risk to benefit ratio. It's used by every manufacturer. I guess it's used by you and me every day we leave our beds. But it does seem rather callous to think that they have decided that the profit/loss balance will reach the point of action no sooner than four more years - after 32 more kids are guillotined.
Keep those kids buckled in. And don't be leaving them alone in the car.
....hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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