6 year old dies after rolling up automatic window on neck

[proud2BlibKansan]

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, IL (KFVS) -
A 6-year-old boy who rolled up a car window on his neck has died.

According to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, the boy died at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at a St. Louis hospital.

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Captain Thomas says the great-grandmother was behind the wheel as the child was in his booster seat the back seat of the car. The boy started playing with the automatic windows and stuck his head out. The boy somehow rolled the window up on his neck and compressed his windpipe.

more . . . http://www.kctv5.com/story/18617629/6-year-old-dies-after-rolling-up-automatic-window-on-neck

[Meiko]

1. Why didn't the great grandmother

lock out the window so it couldn't be operated. In addition the technology that automatically stops these windows when they encounter an obsrtuction has been available for years. I guess not enough kids are dying to make it cost effective.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Is that standard in most cars?

I honestly don't even know if my car has those window locks.

[Meiko]

7. All cars with power windows

has locking capability with the exception of some of the really vintage models.

[Woody Woodpecker]

9. I can confirm that my window does stop if there is an obstruction

The dealer showed me, and proved it.

My car is a 2009 Honda CRV

[backscatter712]

12. Yeah, the car from the OP may be an older model.

New cars with automatic windows (which is to say almost all of them) have safety devices that will cause the window to stop and roll back down if something blocks it.

[Raine]

29. I tested mine with a pencil it stopped but not before it snapped the pencil in two

even stopping they are powerful enough to cause a very painful injury, the pencil could be a finger.

[deaniac21]

6. She was an old lady

this could have happened to anyone
A terrible tragedy for all involved

[Meiko]

8. I know

I wasn't blaming her I was just pointing out that the windows can be locked if needed. My thoughts go out to the family.

[RebelOne]

17. What do you consider an old lady?

I am 73 and a great-grandmother and would never have allowed that to happen. My car has door and window locks.

[deaniac21]

30. At your age you should have learned to

never say never

[Ruby the Liberal]

15. She probably never thought it a possibility.

Same thing with window blinds that have cords. There was a rash of freak accidents where kids hung themselves tangled in them and now they all come with 2 free lines as opposed to connected.

One of those things you wouldn't imagine until it happens.

She must be horrified.

[NickB79]

2. Why wasn't the child buckled in?!?! nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I wondered about that as well.

Poor little guy.

[Odin2005]

22. I thought the exact same thing.

Poor kid!

[FreeJoe]

4. Sounds like a lot of things went wrong...

I always keep the window buttons locked off, but that's more because I find it annoying when kids play with the windows. You have to lift the buttons to raise the window, so it seems odd that he could/would sustain that while being choked. Power windows are supposed to auto-reverse when they hit something. So many things seem to have gone wrong here. I hate to say it, but if I was an investigator, you better believe I'd carefully go through the scenario to make sure that this really was an accident.

[CTyankee]

16. I agree with you: it seems odd that the kid would still be lifting the button while being choked.

You'd think that he would have stopped lifting before he had that serious a compression.

There is something wrong here...

[Robb]

18. In my truck up and down are both a "push" action...

It's a rocker switch, mounted on an armrest attached to the door.

In my mind's eye for this story I see the child standing on the armrest sticking their head out the window, a foot moving slightly and stepping on the switch.

[SidDithers]

10. How does a child in a booster seat get their head out the window?...nt

Sid

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Easy if he gets out of the restraints on the car seat.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. He was 6.

He probably unbuckled himself.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. My 6 yo neice can reach over that far

At that age, they start to stretch in height and can lean over to and sometimes partially through the window, even with the seat belt strapped on them, if the seat is in a window position (vs in the middle). The seat belts are meant to secure but will give some so you can move around with them on - i.e., upon an impact or sudden stop, they "lock" tight to hold you but otherwise are in a relaxed position (the booster seats use the car's seat belts rather than their own harness, although some boosters have their own harness).

I have always been terrified of electronic windows and these wee ones are masters with their feet hitting those buttons to open and close them. I usually try to use the child lock for the back windows.

[ArnoldLayne]

13. Ah!! I hate reading post's like this. I wish I never clicked on it. RIP Little Boy!

[Quixote1818]

19. Automatic windows are dangerous. I am surprised this doesn't happen more often

I see dogs with their heads out the window and wonder how often they step on the automatic window control and get their heads stuck. It must happen all the time.

My brother in law rolled up my window crushing my fingers! Dam it hurt! Man was I pissed off.

[undeterred]

24. When my dog was young he hit the automatic window control in the back seat

by accident and lowered it, so he stuck his head out - fortunately he stayed in the car... Since I did not use the back seat of the car much I had no idea this feature was even there.

Once he did it by accident he continued to do it on purpose on both sides of the back seat. I locked the back windows most of the time but if I forgot, I can see how he could have stuck his head out and stepped on the button at the same time.

I have a vehicle now where he can't drive or operate the windows.

[hfojvt]

26. usually you have to pull up on the switch to get the window to go up

and often the driver has a switch that will kill power to al the other switches.

[Quixote1818]

27. I think a lot of older cars on the road still have the kind you push down on

I know my friend does. His little dog would lock him out some times and I saw him driving with the dog with its head out the window and his little feet right next to the button to close the window and told him if he didn't watch out his little Yorkie was going to get its head chopped off.

[Quixote1818]

20. Here is some background on the problem as a whole

http://saferoads.org/federal/2004/PowerWindowFactSheet.pdf

Here is an old article: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=127763&page=1

[laundry_queen]

23. Yep, happens every year.

Saw a documentary on it last year and basically they couldn't get the car companies to do a darn thing about it.

[hfojvt]

25. what were they driving?

Because I'd like to join a class action lawsuit. That's how my six year old grandson died.

Of course, my six year old was a dog, and I had rolled the window myself. But as far as I am concerned that is a bad design for a window. The damed thing should stop when you let go of the button - not go all the way up and all the way down at the slightest touch.

My dog didn't die right away though. He was injured in August 2005 and died in March 2006, but I trace it back to that window incident.

If it was the same type of mini-van, I would like to know how many others have died.

[Raine]

28. My father almost lost a finger in the automatic car window

he was in his 80's and it was a real trauma for him. We had to take him to the ER on Christmas, we were all so scared. I'm really leery of those windows now and stay way clear of them.