It might be easy for the average homeowner to dismiss his or her garage door as being innocuous, but it's important not to take your door lightly. Garage doors are responsible for a staggering number of serious injuries every year; in 2007, more than 13,000 people in the U.S. were hurt because of accidents involving garage doors. Given that many of these injuries happened to children, it's important that you ensure your children have a healthy respect around the garage door. This means making them abide by a handful of rules that will keep them safe. Here are three valuable lessons to enforce.

No Running Under The Door When It's Closing

Some children love the idea of dashing up the driveway and trying to dive under the garage door just before it closes. Kids who are competitive with each other will often try to up the ante by seeing who can sneak under the door when it's just about the close. What they don't realize is that the door is extremely heavy and can severely injure or even kill them if it closes on them. Furthermore, children have a risk of hitting their heads or faces on the door, knocking themselves off balance and then landing hard on the garage floor. Teach your children that they should only enter the garage when the door is fully open and stationary.  

No Hanging From The Door

Another dangerous activity that entices some children is grabbing the handle on the bottom of the door and "riding" upward when the door is opening. Despite their heavy-duty nature, garage doors aren't mean to pull this extra weight and it's possible that the child could pull the door off its tracks and be seriously injured. It's important to teach your children to never touch the door when it's moving and to always keep their distance.

No Playing Around The Tracks

The rollers and tracks might seem exciting to some children; it's not a stretch to imagine your boys, for example, sliding toy cars up and down the tracks. The concern with doing so, even when the door isn't moving, is that the situation can quickly change. If a child is playing around the door tracks and someone presses the button to operate the door, it can quickly move up or down the tracks and severely injure a child's fingers. Your children need to know that even when the door isn't in use, they should avoid touching any part of it.

For further information, repairs, or replacements, contact local professionals, such as those from Doors Unlimited.