An article in the newspaper reminded me, yet again, that I needed to bring out this picture of a specific type of garage door (see Figure 1) and discuss it here.

Figure 1 

All garage doors are dangerous, but that one there, folks, has to be one of the most dangerous of all time.

• Force reverse—This safety function reverses the vehicle door from its downward travel if it hits anything. When properly adjusted, it should reverse UPON CONTACT. It should not crush anything first and then decide to back up. An example would be if your huge, monster, gigantic Cadillac Escalade is parked halfway in the garage because you're loading Open House signs in the back of it. If your little helper accidentally pushes the opener button, the vehicle door will come down on top of your Escalade but immediately reverse when it makes contact, thereby preventing significant damage, not that anything could possibly damage an Escalade anyway, but that's neither here nor there for our purpose here.
• Photoelectric eyes reverse (see Figure 2)—This safety function reverses the vehicle door from its downward travel if something is breaking the photoelectric eye beam.

Figure 2

It's imperative that both types of safety reverses be present because the vehicle door has trapped, killed, and injured many people and pets since the door opener was invented. Having both types serve as a redundant safety system, kind of like the various redundant servers that many web sites use, such as Active Rain.

If the force reverse is not present and you've got that Escalade parked half in and half out, it won't break the beams because it sits higher than the beams.

If the beams are not there, and the force reverse is not working or is not present, a young child or pet can become trapped under the heavy garage door and be crushed to death. It's happened many times.

Now let's get back to the vehicle door in Figure 1. The problem with that specific type of door is that it needs room to open. It's a very old door, usually older than the early 1980s. Because of it's age, it's usually on houses with smaller garages and shorter driveways. So when you go to park that Escalade in the driveway because it doesn't fit fully in the garage anyway, you're going to have to pull in as close as possible to that door in order to clear the Escalade's rear end from the street or sidewalk. That's where the problem occurs, as I witnessed several years ago and which apparently happened recently according to the newspaper account.

The two types of safety reverses prevent the door from coming down. There is nothing to prevent the door from going up. So someone inside can push the opener button and the door will go up and bang against your Escalade, sometimes continuing to bang against it until someone pushes the button again.

If young children are playing hide and seek, or chase, with the door down, it's possible that one of those kids will push the door opener in the garage in order to take a shortcut. If there's a child on the other side, between the door and the Escalade, that child gets pushed up against the car and crushed until someone pushes the door opener button again.

That's exactly what happened at an inspection a few years ago. The children were told to go play outside, and that's exactly what they did. All of a sudden all of us inside heard some screams and yells and everyone ran outside. Fortunately, I was able to get into the garage quickly through the side door that I had already unlocked and push the opener button to bring the door back down. The child's legs were pretty banged up and bleeding, but other than that, I guess it was another day in being a child.

The child from the newspaper article was rushed to the hospital. It did not say what his condition was, and I couldn't find any other information.

Another safety requirement is that the door opener be about 54 inches high off the garage floor in order to help prevent these types of accidents, but children will get creative, such as using sticks to push the opener button.

Bottom line is that children should not play in or around the garage. That's what yards and playgrounds are for. If you don't have a yard or playground at your house or condo complex, then by all means get them addicted to television, Xbox, DVDs, whatever. Just make sure they don't play in or around the garage.

I'm Russel Ray, and I approve this message.

(Readers who find inspiration in nature should feel free to join
my new Inspired by Nature group here at Active Rain.)

Some of Russel's blog entries

1. Little Johnny, go outside and play.
2. No curb appeal? Let your Client decide.
3. Need to vent? Feel free to vent (your attic) here.
4. Down in the boondocks: A classic homeowner improvement.
5. I've been MeMe'd by Pam Jank, so let's add some music to your day.
6. I admit it. I'm a sucker. Yep. A sucker. 
7. That just ain't the way we do it out here, Sonny Boy
8. 12 reasons why I won't comment on your blogs
9. Not responsible for advice not taken
10. There's that police guy! Hide!
11. Sometimes it's just a question of semantics and definitions
12. Little Johnny! You stink!
13. Don't worry. Thanksgiving is still a couple of months away
14. Mommy! Mommy! Come Here! Come Here!
15. Winterizing homes in San Diego in September
16. How to tell if your landscape watering is too much
17. My first "Active Rain Success Day"
18. What the heck are they cooking?
19. You mean that little jar will hold all that water?
20. A true real estate nightmare affecting hundreds of people
21. Look! It's a field of... Grain? Cotton? Corn?
22. You mean our fine, feathered friends do that?
23. If the shower head isn't working, just turn up the water pressure
24. I purposefully burned a bridge yesterday
25. What part of that don't you understand? (Reading 101, English 101, & Spanish 101)
26. If I trip just one more time, I'll have a baker's dozen
27. Out of sight, out of mind, skip the work, charge for it
28. "How much will it cost?" "$399 plus a $100 aggravation surcharge."
29. I'm so tall that some times I have problems seeing the ground
30. Inspired by Heroes (A Tale of 9/11)
31. In a home inspection, if the thing works, the thing works
32. What do you do when deceit is obvious?
33. Sometimes it really is that simple (electric again)
34. Sometimes it really is that simple (attic)
35. Did you put that on the disclosure form? "Oh, we forgot."
36. The Great Band in the Sky