Garage door safety is a topic that should be discussed more often in your family. Accidents and injuries can be caused by garage doors, after all, it is often the largest moving object in your home.
These accidents can often be avoided by practising some common sense around the home and ensuring your little ones don’t have access to garage door remotes.
Recently, the President of Kidsafe Australia Christopher Zinn, sat down with Merlin to answer some questions about the specifics of garage door safety. Some of the statistics he spoke about were pretty shocking, and garage door safety is definitely something all families in Australia should consider more carefully.
According to Christopher, “Each week in Australia a child is hit by a slow-moving vehicle at home or in the driveway[1]. As the largest moving object in a home, the garage door can also present a serious risk to children.”
We’ve all heard the tragic stories of young children being hit by a car reversing out of the driveway, but even we didn’t know it was as many as one child a week! This statistic proves just how necessary garage door safety is for families.
It begs the question, just why is it that garage door accidents continue to rise?
Christopher says, “When we are at home, we feel relaxed and safe. The garage and driveway, however, are places where parents and carers need to be on their guard. Accidents can happen in a split second and often occur when people are rushing or distracted. The garage and driveway require the full attention of parents and carers at all times.”
This makes sense, which naturally leads to the next question, what can you do to make your garage door safer?
Christopher Zinn’s tips on garage door safety
At Kidsafe, Christopher Zinn recommends all families follow four essential garage door safety practices when entering or exiting the garage door and driveway. Those four tips are:
- Supervise kids at all times when in the garage or on the driveway
- Identify a safe place for the family to stand when there is a car moving in the driveway
- Separate play areas from driveways using fences, self-closing gates, and locked doors, including internal access doors to the garage as well as the garage doors.
- If you don’t know, don’t go. Check that you know exactly where the children are and if you don’t, do not move any vehicles. Actively supervise children at all times, within the car and around the driveway and garage. Don’t just rely on technology such as reversing cameras.
What else can you do to ensure garage door safety?
Aside from talking to your family regularly about how to practice garage door safety, it’s also important to have your garage door serviced regularly by a professional company like Eastern Garage Doors. We can install, repair and service your garage door. We also sell garage door accessories.
To chat to someone from our friendly team about garage door safety, give us a call on 03 9812 3062.
