Newly Proposed Rule by the NHTSA Won’t Require Automatically Reversing Windows | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

The NHTSA, the federal agency that oversees auto safety standards, has stated that it is not necessary to require that power windows operate in reverse to prevent the injury or deaths of children who could be accidentally caught in them.  

In a newly proposed ruling, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote that safety measures already in place, including switches designed to make it difficult for children to mistakenly close windows work well enough. They conclude that these mechanisms are “safe enough” to reduce risk of serious injury or death.

The NHTSA actually did mandate automatically reversing on certain types of windows, including windows closed with a single touch of the button instead of requiring a user to hold the switch until the window is fully closed. This ruling does not go quite far enough in my opinion.

Are you happy and satisfied going half way when it comes to your own child’s safety? Would you want to skimp on a cheap fence around your pool with a weak lock on the gate? Let’s be clear this decision was purely financial and nothing but a cost saving tactic for big companies. It has nothing to do with your safety.

BM