CPSC NEISS · code 1735

Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment

Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment: danger rank #717 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #718 of 838 (169 estimated ER visits a year; roughly flat over the last five years).

Home Medical & Assistance Devices CPSC NEISS through 2024

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2006-2024, Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment ranks #717 of 838 by danger score (28/100) at ER-volume #718 of 838 (169/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#717
danger rank of 838
#718
ER-volume rank of 838
28/100
danger score
169/yr
estimated ER visits (avg)

Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.

Where this category's danger score sits nationally

Danger score (28/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

28 Among the lowest lower than 85% of 838 product categories

scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 27/100

One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.

B
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 5 42nd 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 169 12th 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend -3% 61st 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 0 0th 20% CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count

Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.

Where 3,223 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 1735. Segments sum to 3,223 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.

Two danger lenses

Same-group peer scores and this product's dial

The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Home Medical & Assistance Devices group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.

Home Medical & Assistance Devices danger scores

1. Crutches, Canes Or Walkers52/1002. Wheelchairs47/1003. First Aid Equipment46/1004. Pet Supplies45/1005. Motorized Vehicles, Nec (…41/1006. Matches, Not Specified41/1007. Electric Holiday Decorati…40/1008. Coin-operated Car-washing…28/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10028/100
PlainSafety danger score · Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

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 volume 169 ER visits/yr Low volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 4.9% Below median admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
  • 5-year trend-3%

Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Across the 19-year NEISS window from 2006 to 2024, injury counts for coin-operated car-washing equipment 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 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)

0100200300400500 2006200920122015201820212024 170
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2024

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
0-4 62 0 62
5-14 233 22 255
15-24 316 207 523
25-34 220 108 328
35-44 248 17 265
45-54 248 654 902
55-64 146 159 305
65-74 0 401 401
75+ 143 38 181

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Lower Trunk Other 241
Head Internal Injury 200
Finger Laceration 177
Head Laceration 159
Wrist Laceration 156
Lower Trunk Fracture 146
Hand Laceration 134
Wrist Other 98
Hand Contusions, Abr. 96
Knee Contusions, Abr. 96
Eyeball Other 90
Head Concussion 88
Lower Leg Laceration 87
Ankle Strain, Sprain 82
Lower Trunk Strain, Sprain 81

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 95.4% (3,076)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 4.6% (147)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 78 · Male · Lower Trunk · Fracture · 2024

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

Age 27 · Female · Hand · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

27YOF SHE WAS PULLING HER HAND OUT OF THE CAR WASH AND SCRAPED HER FINGERS DX RT HAND ABRASIONS

Age 210 · Male · Internal · Ingestion · 2024

10MOM SWALLOWED A COIN DX: SUSPECTED FOREIGN BODY INGESTION

Age 6 · Female · Face · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

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

Age 49 · Female · Eyeball · Other · 2023

49 YOF INJURED EYES, ACCIDENTALLY SPRAYED CAR WASH LIQUID SOAP INTO EYES AT CAR WASH, WEARING CONTACTS. DX-CHEMICAL EXPOSURE BILATERAL EYES

Age 9 · Male · Head · Laceration · 2023

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

Age 53 · Female · Finger · Avulsion · 2023

53YOF SAYS GOT HER RIGHT INDEX FINGER CAUGHT IN A CAR WASH COIN MACHINE INJURING IT DX FINGER INJURY, RIGHT, AVULSION OF FINGER NAIL

Age 39 · Female · Knee · Contusions, Abr. · 2023

39 YOF WAS AT THE CAR WASH WHERE SHE SLIPPED AND FELL WHILE WASHING HER CAR. DX: LEFT KNEE CONTUSION

Age 76 · Male · Shoulder · Strain, Sprain · 2023

76 YOM WAS AT THE CAR WASH WASHING HIS CAR TRIPPED AND FELL. DX: RIGHT SHOULDER STRAIN.

Age 54 · Female · Finger · Laceration · 2022

54YOF WAS WASHING HER CAR WHEN THE HIGH PRESSURE HOSE HIT HER THUMB. DX THUMB LACERATION AND RIGHT THUMB CONTUSION

Age 56 · Male · Lower Trunk · Strain, Sprain · 2022

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.

Age 43 · Male · Lower Trunk · Other · 2022

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.

Compare beyond Home Medical & Assistance Devices

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment: cross-group products nearest on danger score (28/100), estimated annual ER visits (169/yr), and hospitalization share (4.9%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.

Read with this product

About this data

CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment ranks #717 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #718 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does coin-operated car-washing equipment rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, coin-operated car-washing equipment ranks #717 by PlainSafety danger score (28/100) and #718 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (169/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

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.

Data on Coin-operated Car-washing Equipment is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2024. See our methodology for details.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.

PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.