Although it’s tempting to race a closing garage door and try to sneak under as if you’re reenacting a chase sequence in a mafia film, it’s actually quite dangerous. Not only could you get crushed (if your garage door isn’t working properly, it will continue to close on you rather than reverse when it encounters an object – i.e. you! – in its path), but you could be setting a very bad example for your children.
Children are more prone to getting injured by a garage door than adults, so any positive examples and lessons they learn from you could go a long way in preventing them from getting crushed by an extremely heavy moving wall (after all, that is essentially what your garage door is).
Here are Hudson Valley Overhead Doors and Operators hot tips to avoid getting injured by a garage door:
1. Ensure the garage door opener is kept in a safe and easy to access place for adults, but that children cannot reach it.
2. Remind your children that Gardiner Garage Doors, although fun, are not a toy (well, not for children anyway).
3. Ensure you regularly test your garage door’s safety mechanism (once a month is fine). By safety mechanism we mean its ability to reverse when it encounters an object in its path, whether it be your precious car, your seldom used push bike, or, you know, a human being that didn’t notice that massive moving wall was coming down on them).
To check the functionality of your garage door’s reverse mechanism, place an item such as a tool kit or deck chair in its path, and then close the door. If the door continues in its downward motion instead of reversing after coming into contact with the object, you must get that checked out. Call Hudson Valley Overhead Doors and Operators for garage door repair and maintenance, especially for Garrison Garage Doors.
4. Always monitor the opening and closing of your Amenia Garage Doors. Don’t just drive away without ensuring it has closed. Likewise, when you’re coming in after a long day at work (although it’s tempting to head straight for the couch), make sure you watch it close completely, and that no stray objects are in the way. This will also allow you to prevent your kids from exiting or entering while the door is in motion.
5. Speaking of kids (again), remind them that playing near the garage door can be dangerous because it could move at any time. You should also never permit them to “ride” the garage door, which is a surprisingly common injury in the statistics (see chart).
6. Leave repairs and maintenance to a trained professional. Don’t try and fix your garage door yourself, especially when springs or cables are involved (do you really want that thing to come crashing down on you?).
7. Schedule an annual inspection of your garage door to make sure everything is working smoothly. See our excellent range of Plattekill Garage Doors.
Hudson Valley Overhead Doors and Operators installs, repairs, and services garage doors in the following areas: