Blog Archive: May 26, 2011

While working in the garage the other day, my next door neighbor was outside playing with his toddler son, in front of my driveway. Just as I was wrapping up my project and on my way into the house, I made sure the coast was clear, hit the button for the garage door and it began to close. The last beams of daylight were just beginning to disappear when I suddenly noticed out of my peripheral vision, a pair of legs, belonging to that toddler, standing about a foot from my closing garage door. I quickly hit the door button and fortunately  for myself, the little toddler and his father, the door came to an abrupt stop. Talk about close calls!

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, garage door related accidents account for an astonishing 20,000 emergency room visits every year. The types of injuries range from crush injuries to fractures and worse. And those are just the incidents that were reported. If those numbers don’t impress you, then check these numbers out:

77.6% of garage door injuries happen at a person’s own home.
37.7% of injuries occur in the summer months. (June-Aug)
59% of injuries involve caught or cut fingers and [more]