Quick answer: Garage door safety for kids and pets comes down to a few habits: keep the photo eyes no higher than six inches off the floor, mount the wall button at least five feet up, keep remotes out of small hands, and test the auto-reverse monthly with a 2×4. Then teach everyone to wait until the door stops before crossing.
Key takeaways
- Photo eyes must sit no higher than six inches off the floor to see a crawling child or a small dog.
- Mount the wall button at least five feet up and keep remotes away from young kids.
- Test monthly: a 2×4 laid flat in the door’s path must send the door back up on contact.
- If the door ever touches someone and does not reverse, unplug the opener and call Larry Myers Garage Doors.
Why is a garage door dangerous for children and pets?
The International Door Association calls the garage door the largest moving appliance in a home. It is heavy, and once someone presses the button it keeps moving, often while that person is looking at a phone or the groceries.
Kids and pets are hard to predict. Toddlers crawl. Older kids may treat a closing door as a race. Dogs dart out as the door rises and back in as it comes down.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s garage door opener safety sheet reports that about 73 children between the ages of 2 and 14 have been trapped and killed under automatic garage doors since 1982. That is why openers built since 1991 must reverse when they meet resistance, and openers built since 1993 must add a second entrapment device, such as photo eyes.
Fingers can also get pinched between door sections, and the springs and cables above the door hold a lot of stored energy. Neither is a place for small hands.
The six-inch rule: where the photo eyes must sit
The photo eyes are the two small boxes near the bottom of the door tracks. One sends an invisible beam across the opening and the other receives it. Break the beam while the door is closing, and the door goes back up.
Height matters most. DASMA, the door manufacturers’ association, explains the six-inch rule: the sensors must not sit higher than six inches above the floor, so a small child or pet crawling under the beam is still detected. The CPSC gives a range of 4 to 6 inches. Sensors sometimes get raised to clear a storage bin. Move the bin instead.
Measure yours: floor to lens should be six inches or less. Wipe both lenses with a soft cloth and check the indicator lights. On most openers, steady lights mean the eyes are lined up. Blinking or dark lights usually mean dirt, a bump or a failing sensor.
Where should the wall button and remotes live?
DASMA’s opener safety tips call for mounting the wall button at least five feet off the floor, and the CPSC also says to keep it out of small children’s reach. Put it where the person pressing it can see the whole door and watch it finish closing. If yours sits at light switch height, moving it up is usually a small job.
Remotes are not toys. Keep them clipped to the car visor, not in a cup holder or a toy bin. Treat an outdoor keypad code like a house key, shared only with kids old enough to follow the door rules. A smart garage door opener can also send a phone alert when the door opens, which helps once older kids start coming home alone.
Can the sensors see a small child or a dog?
Yes, when they sit at the right height and are clean and lined up. But the beam is one thin line a few inches off the floor, so openers built since 1991 also have contact auto-reverse: if the door touches something on the way down, it should stop and go back up. Treat both as a seatbelt, not a babysitter.
Test both monthly, with kids and pets inside the house. Lay a 2×4 flat in the door’s path and close the door. It must reverse on contact. Then block the beam with a box and press the button. The door should not close. Our reversal and balance test guide has the details.
| Safety feature | What it does | How to check it | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo eyes | Reverse the door when the beam is blocked | Block the beam; the door should not close | Monthly |
| Photo eye height | Keeps the beam low enough for a crawling child | Floor to lens: 6 inches or less | Monthly |
| Auto-reverse | Sends the door back up on contact | Close it on a 2×4 laid flat; it must reverse | Monthly |
| Door balance | Shows the springs carry the door’s weight | Door closed, pull the release, lift halfway; it should stay | Monthly |
| Wall button and remotes | Keep the door in adult hands | Button 5 feet up; remotes out of reach | Each school year |
Garage door safety for kids in the wet season: mudrooms, dogs and remotes
NWS Portland notes that nearly 90 percent of the year’s rain falls between mid-October and mid-May, and NOAA normals show measurable rain at the airport on about 18 to 19 days a month from November through January. So in many Portland and Vancouver homes, the garage becomes the mudroom and the dog door for the wet months, and the door runs far more than it would in a dry climate.
More trips mean more chances for someone small to be in the wrong spot. Summer is a good time to set these habits, before the rain returns:
- Keep the path clear. Boot trays, dog beds and bins go against the side walls, not under the door or in front of the photo eyes.
- Wait for the door. Kids and dogs stay at the house door until the garage door stops. Nobody walks under a moving door.
- Leash the dog first. A dog that bolts out as the door rises often bolts back in as it comes down.
- No half-open dog doors. A door left a foot open lets a dog squeeze under it just as someone presses the remote.
- Set remote rules before school starts. Press, watch the door until it stops, then go.
- Light the garage. By December the sun sets around 4:30 p.m., so after-school traffic happens in the dark.
Older homes deserve a look too. From Sellwood to Hazel Dell, some garages still have decades-old openers. If yours has no photo eyes at all, it likely predates the 1993 rule and is due for a new garage door opener. Call our Portland or Vancouver office and we will take a look.
What to do if a child or pet is ever caught
Stay calm and act in this order:
- Press the wall button or remote. On most openers, a press while the door is moving stops or reverses it.
- If the door is down and will not respond, pull the red emergency release cord on the opener rail and lift the door by a handle near the bottom, never at the panel joints.
- If it will not budge or feels far too heavy, a spring may be broken. Call 911 right away rather than forcing it.
- Get care. Call 911 if a child is hurt or was pinned. Call your vet for a pet.
- Unplug the opener. The CPSC says an opener that fails to reverse must be disengaged until it is adjusted, repaired or replaced.
Never pull the emergency release while the door is open. With a broken spring, the door can drop hard.
When to call a professional
Stop using the opener and call us if:
- The door fails the 2×4 test or closes with the beam blocked.
- The photo eyes will not stay lined up, or their lights blink or stay dark.
- The opener has no photo eyes, or the door touched someone and did not reverse.
- You heard a loud bang, see a gap in a spring coil, or a cable looks frayed or slack.
- The door suddenly feels heavy or hangs crooked.
Those last two point to springs or cables, which hold enough stored energy to cause serious injury. Keep kids and pets away from the door until we arrive.
Our garage door repair technicians can realign or replace sensors and test the whole system. Same-day service is available, with no extra charge on Saturdays. Request a free estimate, or call our Portland office at 503-852-9238 or our Vancouver office at 360-777-6854.
Frequently asked questions
What safety features should a garage door opener have for families?
A family opener should have two ways to reverse: contact auto-reverse that sends the door back up when it touches something, and photo eyes no higher than six inches off the floor. Openers built for the U.S. since 1993 must have a second device like those photo eyes. Also look for a wall control you can mount at least five feet up, plus phone alerts and battery backup.
How do I childproof a garage door opener or wall button?
Move the wall button at least five feet up, in view of the door. Keep remotes in the car or up high, never in a toy bin or an open drawer. Wait to hand one to a child until they can follow the rules: press, watch the door until it stops, then go.
Can a pet accidentally set off the garage door sensors?
Crossing the photo eyes will not open a closed door. A dog or cat in the beam while the door is closing will stop it and send it back up, which is the sensor doing its job. If the door keeps reversing for no clear reason, look for a pet bed, a bin or mud on the lenses first.
What is the auto-reverse safety feature and how do I test it?
Auto-reverse makes a closing door stop and go back up when it touches something. To test it, lay a 2×4 flat on the floor in the door’s path and close the door. It must reverse on contact. The CPSC recommends doing this once a month. If it fails, unplug the opener and have it repaired.
Want your door’s safety features checked before the rain?
Larry Myers Garage Doors has treated Portland and Vancouver customers like neighbors since 1973: transparent, affordable pricing, same-day service available, no extra charge on Saturdays, work backed by our warranty, and estimates that are always free.
Licensed, bonded and insured: Oregon CCB #167435, Washington #MYERSGD942K4. Authorized dealer for Northwest Door, Clopay, Genie, LiftMaster, Wayne Dalton, Linear and Windsor. Serving Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Clark counties. Read our reviews.