Have you or someone you know had an accident involving a garage door? We hope not but unfortunately, garage door accidents do happen. What type of accidents do we see most commonly? Could they have been prevented?
Most Common Causes of Garage Door Accidents
These are some of the most common garage door accidents:
#1 Accident: Backing Into the Garage Door When Leaving
The number one accident would be backing into the door when leaving the garage. Why and how does this happen? One word comes to mind – distraction. It’s a cold morning, so leave the door down, load the car with the children, pets, work items, or whatever else – then jump in the driver seat, start the car, push the button on the remote control and back up. Bang! What was that noise? The garage door hadn’t had enough time to open fully but didn’t show in the mirror resulting in the bottom of the door being hit by the top of the car.
In most of these cases, the door takes the brunt of the abuse, and the vehicle wins the contest with the most minor damage. Often times the damaged sections of your garage door can be replaced, the door can be serviced and the thing that hurt most might be the driver’s pride. This is not to downplay the fact that the door, under significant spring tension, is now likely off the tracking and can become dangerous.
#2 Accident: Garage Off the Tracks
The second on the list would be a garage door off the tracks as a result of something mistakenly or carelessly left on the track. While today’s automatic opener systems have several built-in safety systems, an item such as a broom handle or shovel handle leaning in a garage door track will stop one side of the door from descending often causing the door to come off the tracking and in worst cases fall out of the tracks and land on the floor or the top of the car.
#3 Accident: Hitting the Door Jamb or the Door Tracking with the Car
The third most common accident that we come across is hitting the door jamb or the door tracking with a vehicle. In other words, the door is fully open as it should be but for some reason, the wheels get turned and bang! This can result in anywhere from minor to major damage dependent upon how severely the jamb or tracking was hit.
#4 Accident: Hitting the Garage Door from the Outside
Occasionally we find someone has hit the door from the outside. This can be a result of a slippery driveway, forgetting to put the car in park or stepping on the gas instead of the brake. These accidents usually result in the door being ‘totaled’ and often a bit more damage to the vehicle.
In any of these cases please don’t touch the door! If the door is off the track, crooked, dangling, or you have a broken jamb or bent tracking the garage door system could be very dangerous.
Please call a professional garage door service company such as Overhead Door Co. of Central Jersey, have them visit the site and secure the door, remove any vehicle, and then perform any needed follow-up service.
How Can Garage Door Accidents be Prevented?
As with most accidents, these are all a result of human error.
- Just as you learn to put on your seatbelt or to put your phone down when you are driving (we hope) you should learn to open the garage door fully before getting into the car. If you must get in the car prior to opening the door you should learn to check your mirror carefully to be sure it is FULLY open prior to backing out of the garage.
- Keep the area around the garage door tracks clear of yard tools and other items.
- Avoid distractions as you move in and out of the garage as you are operating your car with little room for error, it is easy to hit the door jamb or door tracking. So, in a word, awareness is the best prevention. We hope you never experience a garage door accident.
Overhead Door Company of Central Jersey has been serving the Central Jersey area since 1972. Our adept team of Supertechs are always available to provide top-notch repairs, installation, replacement and maintenance for your residential garage doors.