Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Girl Dies, Carwindow

Wow, I never realized how powerful those windows can be. If only automakers installed pinchguard mechanisms in every car, this sort of tragedy would never happen again. Sadly, only the rich can afford to be safe.
 
t^3 said:
If only automakers installed pinchguard mechanisms in every car, this sort of tragedy would never happen again.
Click to expand...

I agree. They've had sensors in garage doors for years now because of things like that, they should do the same for car windows. My dad got his finger stuck once, while he was driving. Of course, he was throwing something out the window, so maybe it should have been a lesson to him. 🙄
 
but the danger is with that if someone is trying to mug you or car jack you, if the window stops closing then its easier for them to get access to the car
 
when I was younger, we left my parents friends house, and I stuck my head out the window to say goodbye to the kids, and my mom had just finished saying her goodbyes, and apparently didn't notice that I had my head out the window. She rolled it up, and choked me enough where I could say anything, but a quiet whisper. But since my head was outside the car, she could hear me. Fortunately, the friends started freaking out, pointing at me. After about 10 seconds, she finally realised that it was my neck causing the window to not roll up completely, and she stopped trying to close it.
 
Pinchgaurd systems have had problems in the industry, so have the self-destructing mechanisms designed to fall apart when meeting the head.

What happens is car owners complain when these safety features cost them a couple hundred dollars one day when the mechanism fails and their window falls into the door.

When it happens enough people demand stronger mechanisms, which some carmakers like VW have provided -- but it also means that the stronger mechanisms will kill a child.
 
Guys, you need to understand that its impossible for industry to protect the public from all possible danger. People have to behave themselves and use products in a secure way. Puting your head out of a car window is not a safe use.

As for kids, parents are supposed to watch their kids are doing and also put them in a safe environnement.

Parents, stop asking the companies and governement to do your job!
 
Our car has power windows and you can lock them from the drivers position so the kids in the back seat can't open or close them. simple. If you have kids it's your responsibility to use devices like this for their protection. It's just like the child lock on the door -- easy to turn on and off and it's there for a reason.
 
Two points.

1. When a child is in a car with power windows, the master switch by the driver should be shut off they can't open or close the windows.

2. What the hell was a 3 year old doing in a running car (here I am assuming because the windows won't work if the car is off) with out being strapped into a child booster seat, or at least being buckled in.

The parents stupidity lead to this. It is a tragic accident that could have been avoided by using some common sense.
 
There is an easy answer!!!!

Mantat said:
Guys, you need to understand that its impossible for industry to protect the public from all possible danger. People have to behave themselves and use products in a secure way. Puting your head out of a car window is not a safe use.

As for kids, parents are supposed to watch their kids are doing and also put them in a safe environnement.

Parents, stop asking the companies and governement to do your job!
Click to expand...

Well I agree with you sentiment in general, I don't agree with it in this case, the kid didn't know how unsafe it was (she was only 3). Yes Parents should lock out the backseat controls and yes kids should be buckled in, but those don't really apply in this situation. From the sounds of the article, the truck was stopped and the girl was in the front seat (making the lock-out button ineffective); if they hadn't got underway yet then her Mom might not have had a chance to buckle the kid into the seat...

What's really tragic here is that the solution is so easy to accomplish, design power window switches properly! My Matrix has recessed window switches that only go up if you pull up on them. Most of these accidents happen because the switch is a push and little feet or knees can press them into the up position! I actually thought switches like my Matrix has were now required to prevent these tragic accidents. 🙁
 
Raid said:
Well I agree with you sentiment in general, I don't agree with it in this case, the kid didn't know how unsafe it was (she was only 3). Yes Parents should lock out the backseat controls and yes kids should be buckled in, but those don't really apply in this situation. From the sounds of the article, the truck was stopped and the girl was in the front seat (making the lock-out button ineffective); if they hadn't got underway yet then her Mom might not have had a chance to buckle the kid into the seat...

What's really tragic here is that the solution is so easy to accomplish, design power window switches properly! My Matrix has recessed window switches that only go up if you pull up on them. Most of these accidents happen because the switch is a push and little feet or knees can press them into the up position! I actually thought switches like my Matrix has were now required to prevent these tragic accidents. 🙁
Click to expand...

I agree that the window switches going the other way would have changed the accident. She merely would have fallen out of the truck and hit her head on the pavement.

However, it's up to the parents to be watching the child and to have the child secured first. After all, if they're so precious, treat them that way.
 
Anyone stop to consider that maybe it was an older car that doesn't have the "lift up to raise window" levers?

Besides, 4 children a year.. really isn't that bad compared to a myriad of other "dangers".
 
Raid said:
What's really tragic here is that the solution is so easy to accomplish, design power window switches properly! My Matrix has recessed window switches that only go up if you pull up on them. Most of these accidents happen because the switch is a push and little feet or knees can press them into the up position! I actually thought switches like my Matrix has were now required to prevent these tragic accidents. 🙁
Click to expand...

I've got those types of switches in my Diamante, as well. Until your post, I never realized why Toyota and Mitsubishi did that. I thought they were just trying to be different.
 
That is very said. I can't even imagine how the parents must feel, just so tragic. My prayers go out to the parents, family, and friends.

You would think that they would have developed a pressure avoidance guard like they have for garage door.
 
Ok as a parent I would not wish this on any one, that being said I think the parents are at fault in this situation and not the car manufacturer.

1) Kid was mobile while car was running. It was her foot scrabbling on the arm rest that shoved the window up, and probably pushing against it strangling her to death as she struggled to get free. She was 3. What the hell? At 3 yrs old you have to be in a booster seat and belted in. She wasn't. A switch redesign could help this, both my cars need you to pull up to roll up, instead of the old push forward which a little foot could do while climbing around

2) Parents didn't notice for some time. Good night, talk about a self absorbed conversation. Maybe they were fighting, don't know. But I have a 2.5 yr old and a 9 month old. if they're moving around near anything one eye is on them all the time. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I watch them like a hawk. They're little, they're inquisitive, and they will get themselves hurt on the weirdest things too.

I drive an Audi A4 and a Chrysler Pacifica. The A4 will bounce back if something gets in the way. Not sure about the Chrysler, haven't tried it (or needed too, but now I'm thinking about testing it.

As an adult I've been rolled up in a window occasionaly, hurts like hell and I really feel for that poor little girl. yet it's not completely the cars fault.
 
musicpyrite said:
I've gotten my fingers stuck in the window 1 or 2 times....

Still wating to get my neck stuck though... 🙄
Click to expand...

iv wedged my fingers on purpose to see how much pain i could take hehe

it was traffic and we listend to all the cds already
 
BubbaJones said:
Two points.

1. When a child is in a car with power windows, the master switch by the driver should be shut off they can't open or close the windows.

2. What the hell was a 3 year old doing in a running car (here I am assuming because the windows won't work if the car is off) with out being strapped into a child booster seat, or at least being buckled in.

The parents stupidity lead to this. It is a tragic accident that could have been avoided by using some common sense.
Click to expand...

Hello...most car windows operate with the key ignition turned to the "on" position without the car running (not to accessory, but on...without the engine running. I know this cause I always forget to roll up the windows and I have never ever had to restart the car to roll them up...just turn ignition to "on" position. Also, many cars don't have master switches, especially older ones. Do you have kids? Because I am the most cautious and careful parent and I can even see a simple scenario where this could have easily happend to me or someone else who is a "good" parent. Dad is washing the car, turns on the radio to listen to it (and accidently turns it to "on" and not "accessory" and the kid asks to sit in the drivers seat to pretend to drive...clicking the turn signals, etc. Or even easier the kid jumps in the back to play in their car seat and dad says something to her and she sticks her head out the window and hits the switch with her knee. End of story.

As far as this story goes...the car was not moving! Read the story. The mother was talking to the father. Many kids are capable of buckling themselves in at age three and it is possible the mother was sitting in the drivers seat, talking to dad *(as the article states) and maybe the girl was getting ready to buckle herself in when she leaned out the window to talk to dad, look at something or talk to someone else.

either way it is very sad and to say it is only four kids. You won't understand how much that statement means unless you have kids. If your kid is one of the four...it matters!

I am not saying that there are not stupid parents, but if you don't know don't judge. That being said, the parent a while back that let his 12 year old drive a car in a parking lot while his dad looked on from outside the car and killed his brother by running over him(I am sure the story is not exactly right, but something like this- three weeks ago I think.)...that is sheer stupidity...but this instance is not necessarily based in stupidity.
 
flyfish29 said:
...
As far as this story goes...the car was not moving! Read the story. The mother was talking to the father. Many kids are capable of buckling themselves in at age three and it is possible the mother was sitting in the drivers seat, talking to dad *(as the article states) and the girl was in the back getting ready to buckle herself in when she leaned out the window to talk to dad.
...
Click to expand...

I guess we were reading two different stories. The girl was in the seat next to the mother in the truck. There might not have been any back seat at all.

Girl Caught in Truck's Power Window Dies

DALLAS (AP) - A 3-year-old girl suffocated after her neck became caught in the power window of her parents' pickup truck, police said.

Yencey Ayala was reaching out the window Sunday and accidentally hit the window button with her knee or foot, authorities said.

Yencey's mother was sitting next to her in the driver's seat, talking to her husband, who was standing outside the truck, police said.

It was unclear how long the child was stuck before her parents noticed, police spokesman Lt. Anthony Williams said.

Authorities said no charges would be filed.

About four children die each year after getting stuck in power windows, according to the Kansas-based group Kids And Cars.
Click to expand...
 
flyfish29 said:
Hello
Click to expand...
Hi.

flyfish29 said:
...most car windows operate with the key ignition turned to the "on" position without the car running
Click to expand...
True.

flyfish29 said:
Do you have kids?
Click to expand...
Yes.

flyfish29 said:
Because I am the most cautious and careful parent and I can even see a simple scenario where this could have easily happend to me or someone else who is a "good" parent. Dad is washing the car, turns on the radio to listen to it (and accidently turns it to "on" and not "accessory" and the kid asks to sit in the drivers seat to pretend to drive...clicking the turn signals, etc. Or even easier the kid jumps in the back to play in their car seat and dad says something to her and she sticks her head out the window and hits the switch with her knee. End of story.
Click to expand...
I would never let my kids play in a car with or with out the keys in it. My car is not a toy or a jungle gym. It is irresponsible, in my opinion, to teach a child to treat a two ton movable object as such.

flyfish29 said:
...that is sheer stupidity...but this instance is not necessarily based in stupidity.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree. It is a law in many states that a child must be in a child safety seat until they fulfill certain requirements (5 - 7 years old, 40 -60 pounds depending). I quote "Texas law states that all children under 17 must be properly secured in a safety belt or child safety seat, whether they’re sitting in the front seat or the back. Children under four years old, or less than 36 inches tall, must ride in child safety seats. Children more than 36 inches and at least 4 years of age, but younger than 17, must be secured by a safety belt." (link) . I won't even put the key into the ignition until everyone (including adults) are buckled into a seat.

But again, this is my opinion. Yours may vary.

Bubba

p.s.
flyfish29 said:
100% tasteless...horrifying if you have kids
Click to expand...
But funny if you hate cats.
 
Gotta love the "parent should never..." arguments. There is no parent of a three year old child on Earth who has not, on at least one occasion over those three years, turned their back on that child for a few seconds.

Perhaps this specific incident might not have happened to a given "perfect" parent. But accidents happen, even to the best watched of children.

Perhaps these were negligent parents. There are quite a few of those. But it is wrong to assume that these parents of four children are flawed in a way that the posters to this thread aren't. I find it difficult to imagine how someone who actually has kids can decide to complain about the parenting skills of someone who has just had a child of theirs die next to them in this - or any - situation. It is horrific.

As far as solutions go, I agree that the "pull up" switches are a fantastic idea. Also, pressure sensitive pads like the ones on many newer cars which disable the front air bag when a slight but non-adult weight is on the seat would also help (obviously, for windows, they'd need this on all seats not just front ones). The window disable switch only works when it's activated, and the best safety features don't require intentional activation, especially when children are concerned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back