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Federal Regulators Order Safer Power Window Switches
WASHINGTON — 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.
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.
“If we can fix it at a low cost, then why not?” Runge said. “We have a duty to do all we can.” In response to regulations overseas, European and Japanese automakers have aggressively switched from “toggle” or “rocker-type” switches to lever-style switches. Lever switches must be pulled upward with a finger for a window to rise.
Detroit automakers — who have been singled out for criticism by advocates for failing to adopt safer designs — are phasing in safer window switches as they redesign models.
“We have an aggressive turnover of products right now, and we’re already phasing in the switches,” said GM spokesman Chris Preuss. “The solution we’ve got here seems to be a suitable and measured response.”
Preuss said most of GM’s 2004 midsize and full-size SUVs have lever switches. For the 2005 model year, 65 percent of GM’s models will have lever switches, he said.
Ford Motor Co. spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the company began phasing in new switches with the 2003 Lincoln Navigator and Aviator. Close to half of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models will have new switches by the end of 2006, Kinley said.
“Even prior to NHTSA’s announcement, we would have beat the 2009 deadline,” Kinley said. In many of the deaths documented this year, children were strangled when they pressed a power window switch while their head or arms were stretched out of the window. Automakers say parents still need to be vigilant when leaving children in a vehicle.
“The interior of a car, with the ignition running, is no place for a child to be left alone,” he said.
NHTSA declined to go further and require technology that causes a window to bounce back if it senses an object obstructing its path. Such technology is already available on some luxury models, including several offerings from Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lincoln, Mercedes and Volkswagen.
Consumer groups were disappointed NHTSA did not require the bounce-back technology.
“This is a good step in the right direction,” said Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “But why not do it all at once? If we’re going to require that garage doors don’t fall on people, why not children in cars?”
Kinley said some customers urged the company not to include the feature. Customers were worried that they would be defenseless in the event of an attack by an intruder, Kinley said.
“We were surprised by some of the letters we got,” Kinley said. “The bounce-back issue will have to be looked at very carefully.”
NHTSA made the announcement in Columbus, Ohio, with Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who has pushed for auto safety legislation pending in Congress.
“Children and power windows are a potentially dangerous combination,” DeWine said. “This is the kind of safety policy that is a no-brainer.”
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