Feds to Tighten Window Rules The Center for Auto Safety
`
`The Conter f or
`Auto Safety
`
`4.-11,,
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`Feds to Tighten Window Rules
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`Safety agency will require safer switches after growing number of deadly accidents
`
`September 13, 2004
`
`By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau
`
`WASHINGTON - Federal auto safety regulators will unveil new rules Monday calling for safer
`power window designs.
`
`The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to require switches that are less
`likely to accidentally activate power windows, which have been linked to a spate of recent
`injuries and deaths among small children.
`
`In the latest incident, Kids and Cars, a watchdog group, said a 2 -1 /2- year -old boy died in Amite,
`La., last week in a Ford F -350 pickup after accidentally stepping on a power window switch. It is
`the eighth child fatality linked to power windows the group has documented this year.
`
`NHTSA administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge will announce the new rules in Columbus, Ohio, alongside
`Sen. Mike DeWine, R -Ohio, who sponsored legislation this year to require new switch designs.
`The law would mandate rules by 2006 and require "window switches and related technoloaies be
`designed to prevent the accidental closing by children of power wi
`
`The legislation is part of a highway bill Congress is expected to fin
`
`Some safety advocates are concerned that NHTSA will limit the ne
`switches, instead of forcing automakers to implement more aggre
`windows that retract when a sensor detects an object in its path.
`
`"On one hand, we're elated that the agency is taking up the issue,
`president of Kids and Cars. "But they have an opportunity to ensu
`again. Auto -reverse would eliminate the cause of all of these deat
`
`http://www.autosafety.org/feds-tighten-window-rules
`
`

`

`Feds to Tighten Window Rules The Center for Auto Safety
`
`The Center for
`Auto Saf e t y
`
`Feds to Tighten Window Rules
`
`Safety agency will require safer switches after growing number of deadly accidents
`
`September 13, 2004
`
`By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau
`
`WASHINGTON - Federal auto safety regulators will unveil new rules Monday calling for safer
`power window designs.
`
`The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to require switches that are less
`likely to accidentally activate power windows, which have been linked to a spate of recent
`injuries and deaths among small children.
`
`In the latest incident, Kids and Cars, a watchdog group, said a 2- 1 /2- year -old boy died in Amite,
`La., last week in a Ford F -350 pickup after accidentally stepping on a power window switch. It is
`the eighth child fatality linked to power windows the group has documented this year.
`
`NHTSA administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge will announce the new rules in Columbus, Ohio, alongside
`Sen. Mike DeWine, R -Ohio, who sponsored legislation this year to require new switch designs.
`The law would mandate rules by 2006 and require "window switches and related technologies be
`designed to prevent the accidental closing by children of power windows."
`
`The legislation is part of a highway bill Congress is expected to finalize this fall.
`
`Some safety advocates are concerned that NHTSA will limit the new measures to safer window
`switches, instead of forcing automakers to implement more aggressive measures, such as
`windows that retract when a sensor detects an object in its path.
`
`"On one hand, we're elated that the agency is taking up the issue," said Janette Fennell,
`president of Kids and Cars. "But they have an opportunity to ensure a child never dies this way
`again. Auto - reverse would eliminate the cause of all of these deaths and all of these injuries."
`
`http://www.autosafety.org/feds-tighten-window-rules
`
`1/8/2015
`
`UUSI, LLC
`Exhibit 2016
`1/2
`
`

`

`Feds to Tighten Window Rules | The Center for Auto Safety
`
`
`
`NHTSA has examined those kinds of technologies in recent months. on July 20, the agency met
`with representatives from Nartron Corp., a Reed City, Mich., company that has devised a "smart
`power window" that retracts as soon as it detects an object.
`
`John Washeleski, Nartron's senior vice president of engineering, said agency officials indicated
`they were focused on safer switch designs as a good first step. But Washeleski said any measure
`that stopped short of requiring the extra protection of an automatic retractor would fall short.
`
`"There's no such thing as a safe switch," Washeleski said. "Talk to five people, and you'll find
`someone who was injured or was nearly injured by a power window."
`
`Many automakers have voluntarily phased out the "toggle" switch design considered to be more
`dangerous. A toggle or "rocker" switch raises a window if pressed forward. Safety advocates say
`that children can inadvertently raise windows by stepping on the switches. European and
`Japanese automakers have opted increasingly for "lever" switches that must be pulled upward by
`a finger to make the window rise. Some foreign brands are also offering windows that bounce
`back when an object gets in their path.
`
`Safety advocates say U.S. automakers have been slow to adopt the newer switch designs. But
`some models do have lever switches, including the Chrysler Pacifica, the Pontiac Montana and
`the Chevrolet Silverado.
`
`NHTSA has studied power window design since 1996 in response to a petition from Prospects
`Corp., an automotive supplier. The company wanted NHTSA to change its regulations to allow for
`infrared detection systems that detect objects in the path of a closing window.
`
`In response to the latest deaths among children, automakers have advised parents not to leave
`children alone in cars and trucks.
`
`Carolyn Brown, a spokeswoman for Ford Motor Co., said the company would not comment until
`the agency unveils its proposal Monday.
`
`Invented by Daimler-Benz in 1948, electric power windows were first installed mainly on luxury
`models. But as they became more popular in the 1960s, a new safety hazard developed. In
`1962, Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanaugh's 2-year-old son, Christopher, nearly was strangled by a
`power window in the tailgate of the family's new station wagon. Consumer safety advocate Ralph
`Nader referred to power windows as "guillotines" in the 1960s.
`
`http://www.autosafety.org/feds-tighten-window-rules
`
`1/8/2015
`
`UUSI, LLC
`Exhibit 2016
`2/2
`
`