Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, OH), "Mom on crusade for safer power windows"

          Mansfield resident Rebecca Hergatt spoke at the National Press Club last month in Washington, D.C., before a room full of journalists. Hergatt's son Mac, 5, survived a near-fatal accident June 13 when he put his head out a window of the family's 1992 Buick Regal. Unaware of the child's actions, Hergatt put up the power windows of the car while parked in the driveway of their Pavonia West Road residence.
          Hergatt sought answers from automakers after the accident, but had little success. Through the Internet she found Kids and Cars, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing child injuries and death from non-traffic vehicular incidents. The organization has documented 23 deaths from power windows since 1993.
          "We've always driven a Buick, but by year's end, I plan to buy a Volkswagen," Hergatt, 38, said, noting US automakers do not equip domestic models with the same power-window safety features that are standard in foreign automobiles. "They do voluntarily install safer power windows in their cars sold overseas," Hergatt said.
          General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG said they have safety features in place, including driver-operated lockout switches on all vehicles that prevent children from using windows in the back seat, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press. In April 2003, the European Union began requiring automakers to have safer switches, Susan Winn of the Consumer Federation told the Detroit Free Press. Those switches, generally considered safer than the rocking switches in many U.S. vehicles, are flush with the arm rest and require users to pull up if they want the window to go up.