CLIPPINGS
Garage Doors and Openers in the Media

Garage Door Flies Off Truck

Source: Chico (Calif.) Enterprise-Record, 04/25/2003
Article: Garage Door Flies Off Truck, Smashes Through Windshield
Author: Eleanor Cameron

A 24-year-old garage door dealer’s truck driver was charged with carrying an unsafe load after a garage door flew off his delivery truck and injured James Kyke, the driver of an oncoming pickup.

According to the newspaper report, the garage door smashed through the windshield, hitting Kyle in the face as the door lodged itself in the cab of his pickup. Kyle then lost control of his vehicle.

The investigating officer said Kyle suffered a fractured jaw, lacerations around his mouth, and bruises on his face. The officer said, “If the door dislodged from the (delivery) truck, obviously it was not a safe load.”

Cell Phones to Open Garage Doors?

Source: Wired Magazine, May 2003
Article: Beyond Wi-Fi: The 5 Next Big Things
Author: Xeni Jardin

New technology may soon allow cell phones to open your garage door.

This special Wired report notes that new ultrawideband (UWB) technology may revolutionize wireless systems. First-generation UWB products are expected in late 2003, but UWB may not be widely adopted until 2008.

UWB promises offer data speeds about 15 times faster than DSL, cheaper service, and wider coverage areas. Another expected benefit, instant reprogramming, can transform a cell phone into “a garage door opener, which morphs into a mobile gaming device, which then - presto! - turns itself into a TV remote.”

Cheated Girlfriend Rams Garage Door

Source: Denver Post, 04/20/2003
Article: Girlfriend Accused In Break-In, Attack With Bat
Author: John Ingold

Hell’s garage door hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Police say a 26-year-old Colorado woman went to her boyfriend’s home at 5 a.m. on a Saturday, suspecting that he was cheating on her. After he didn’t answer the door or the phone, authorities say she repeatedly rammed her Mercedes Benz into his garage door.

She then entered the home through the 3-foot gap created by ramming the door. Once inside the house, she reportedly went after the boyfriend with a baseball bat and tried to attack another woman in the house. Police charged her with criminal mischief and domestic violence.

Screened Garage Grabs Attention

Source: Chicago Tribune, 03/07/2003
Article: Where an Open-Door Policy is Encouraged
Author: Dan Rafter

This story takes note of the new focus on glorified garages, but with a new twist: screened garage doors. Rafter writes of “the most famous” and “the most unique” garage in Downer’s Grove, a Chicago suburb.

In warmer weather, the residents remove their cars from the garage and replace them with lamps, end tables, and a TV. They screen their garage’s front entrance and hang curtains across it. And at night, they raise the garage door to reveal a fully functional screened-in room, where (they) relax, read, eat dinner, or watch the evening news.

When the homeowner tells people where she lives, she says, “We’re the ones with the screened-in garage.” She says they respond, “Oh, yeah. That is so interesting.”

The writer quotes Kira Obolensky, who wrote the Garage book (see fall 2002, p. 28): “We’ve redone our kitchens, our bathrooms, and our master suites. People are now finally seeing the potential of the garage.”

The story also quotes a manager for GarageTek (see spring 2003, p. 48): “People … have these beautiful homes, but they can’t bear to put their heads up when their garages are open. People always tell me that they don’t want to be the ones with the messy garage.”