Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Home Medical & Assistance Devices · CPSC Code 1735
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment carry a danger score of 28/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 169 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 28/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 169
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.9%
- end in hospital admission
- 45-54
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1735 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 28/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for coin-operated car-washing equipment - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume169 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.9%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-3%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment (CPSC product code 1735, in the Home Medical & Assistance Devices category) generate an estimated 169 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 3,219 ER-treated injuries across the 19-year span from 2006 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 28/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2022 (399 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2009 (38 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for coin-operated car-washing equipment is other to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 241 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (200 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 902 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.9% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how coin-operated car-washing equipment fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2006–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 62 | 0 | |
| 5-14 | 233 | 22 | |
| 15-24 | 316 | 207 | |
| 25-34 | 220 | 108 | |
| 35-44 | 248 | 17 | |
| 45-54 | 248 | 654 | |
| 55-64 | 146 | 159 | |
| 65-74 | 0 | 401 | |
| 75+ | 143 | 38 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Wrist | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Fracture | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Wrist | Other | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Knee | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
78YOM WITH PAIN IN HIS LEFT HIP. HE FELL FROM STANDING AT THE CAR WASH WHILE CLEANING HIS CAR AND LANDED ON HIS LEFT HIP. HE HAS PAIN WITH STRAIGHT LEG RAISE IN HIS NOT ABLE TO PUT WEIGHT ON THE HIP. DX: FRACTURE FEMUR OTHER HEAD NECK CLOSED INITIAL LEFT
27YOF SHE WAS PULLING HER HAND OUT OF THE CAR WASH AND SCRAPED HER FINGERS DX RT HAND ABRASIONS
10MOM SWALLOWED A COIN DX: SUSPECTED FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
6 YOF C/O FACIAL CONTUSION AND HIP CONTUSION S/P WAS IN A CAR WITH GRANDMOTHER WHO WAS TAKING IT THROUGH AN AUTOMATIC CAR WASH AND PATIENT OPENED THE CAR DOOR AND FELL OUT OF CAR IN THE CAR WASH TO CONCRETE. DX: FACIAL CONTUSION; HIP CONTUSION
49 YOF INJURED EYES, ACCIDENTALLY SPRAYED CAR WASH LIQUID SOAP INTO EYES AT CAR WASH, WEARING CONTACTS. DX-CHEMICAL EXPOSURE BILATERAL EYES
9YOM WAS AT A CAR WASH AND WAS RUNNING AROUND WITH HIS BROTHER WHEN HIS HEAD HIT THE EDGE OF A METAL MACHINE THAT WAS HANGING ON THE WALL. DX: HEAD LACERATION, UNSP HEAD INJURY
53YOF SAYS GOT HER RIGHT INDEX FINGER CAUGHT IN A CAR WASH COIN MACHINE INJURING IT DX FINGER INJURY, RIGHT, AVULSION OF FINGER NAIL
39 YOF WAS AT THE CAR WASH WHERE SHE SLIPPED AND FELL WHILE WASHING HER CAR. DX: LEFT KNEE CONTUSION
76 YOM WAS AT THE CAR WASH WASHING HIS CAR TRIPPED AND FELL. DX: RIGHT SHOULDER STRAIN.
54YOF WAS WASHING HER CAR WHEN THE HIGH PRESSURE HOSE HIT HER THUMB. DX THUMB LACERATION AND RIGHT THUMB CONTUSION
56 YOM. C/O LOW BACK PAIN, PT STATED HE WAS WASHING HIS CAR AND WAS STRUCK BY WASH EQUIPMENT ON HIS LEFT ARM CAUSING HIM TO FALL BACKWARDS AND HIT HIS BACK, OCCURED AT A CAR WASH. DX: LOW BACK STRAIN.
43 YOM REPORTS WASHING CAR AT THE CAR WASH AND WHEN WASHING THE LOWER PORTION OF THE CAR REPORTS FEELING SHIFT AND EXTREME PAIN IN THE LUMBAR REGION. DX: HERNIATION OF INTERVETEBRAL DISC BETWEEN L4-L5.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to coin-operated car-washing equipment on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are coin-operated car-washing equipment?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, coin-operated car-washing equipment have a danger score of 28/100 (low risk). An estimated 169 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from coin-operated car-washing equipment?
The most common injury is other to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 241 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from coin-operated car-washing equipment increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for coin-operated car-washing equipment injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 902 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by coin-operated car-washing equipment?
Of all ER visits involving coin-operated car-washing equipment, approximately 4.9% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.1%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with coin-operated car-washing equipment?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Home Medical & Assistance Devices
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 28/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 45-54 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
