Whether it’s a residential garage door, a massive cargo door for a department store, or a roll-up door for a mall retail store, one thing is certain: without proper maintenance and repairs, overhead doors they can literally become death traps. With reports dotting the nation of injuries from faulty sensors or outdated garage doors catching feet, children, and pets, a substandard garage door is a huge liability. However, the actual injury statistics may surprise you.

According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance Survey (NEISS), the most common type of garage door injury is “section joint pinch/crush,” which happens to about 7,550 Americans each year. This includes “fingers caught between section joints, (e) includes amputations, avulsions, etc.” It is not surprising that this is the most common, but what is surprising is how serious these injuries can be. All it takes is a few missed maintenance inspections or a bad spring to bring a lawsuit against your family or business.

“Smashing” reports

The second most common injury occurs from “falling doors,” with more than 2,100 Americans falling victim each year. According to NEISS, this happens when a “door falls for whatever reason” and includes reasons like poor installation, outdated and unmaintained doors, or any number of other things. However, a quality garage door with a solid installation will not fail “for no reason”, so it is essential to demand top-notch doors and installations.

“Sharp edges” account for more than 800 injuries each year, defined by NEISS as “garage door window glass lacerations.” Today’s garage doors, when they have glass, are impact resistant. If they break, which is rare, it’s similar to breaking a car window. The result is rubbery and messy, but there are no sharp edges. Unfortunately, that is not true of older overhead doors.

Rounding up the main offenses

“Other entrapments” happen to nearly 200 Americans every year. “Half of these fingers got caught between the rollers and the tracks,” according to the research, and could also fall into the pinch/crush category. Tracks and rollers are some of the most common parts that need maintenance, but it’s always best to have it handled by a professional.

“Race to beat the gate” causes about 135 injuries each year in the US “People trying to get through the opening before the gate closes” is a dangerous game, but fruitless if you have a good tilting door with sensors. When this is the case, the sensor will stop the door closing (and perhaps reopen it) when movement is detected.

playing it safe

Finally, “riding the door” can (unsurprisingly) cause about 90 injuries per year in the US. This should be avoided with a little common sense, but of course that’s something kids and teens don’t have. galore. However, an overhead door that is up to date and regularly inspected ought being able to hold the weight of a child, of course, that should never be put to the test.

The vast majority of these injuries can be avoided with common sense, maintenance, and upgrades. Going without these three is a gamble no homeowner, landlord, or business owner should take since the house (or in this case the garage door) always wins.