When I'm no longer present, the garage door closes. The wife stated that she was backing the EV out of the garage shortly after I left and the garage door "closed onto her car."
Any ideas how to prevent this from happening?
I'm leaning towards cancelling the closing of the garage door if the entry door to the garage is opened but interested to hear other ideas.
Thanks
Maybe add a light that will turn red 10 seconds or so before the door closes, and will be visible from the car while backing up?
That is one thing I like about my Q openers, they will blink and beep for a few seconds before the door will close when triggered automatically or remotely.
I would check the safety sensors. They should prevent the door from coming down if the beam is interrupted. Something is wrong.
They're supposed to be mounted 4 to 6 inches off the ground, but I've seen them right at ground level. I could see if the car was sitting with the beam "between the wheels" when the command to lower happened to be given, it would still dutifully close.
If you insist on automating routine open/close actions, then I think you need to add some kind of siren and/or light warning as @Sebastien suggests.
This kind of scenario is why I don't automate those actions -- we just still use plain ol' car remotes 99% of the time. I love the capability to open/close remotely, but I maintain it for odd-ball situations only (family/service needs to get in garage when we're not there, or if I get an alert that the garage door didn't properly close when it was supposed to, etc etc).
@aaiyar brings up a good point -- definitely check out the safety sensors. I suppose it's possible the timing was somehow just right enough that the sensors thought all was good, but they should be the first defense against something like that.
We do the exact same thing.
Notifications for door left open only. Requires a human to close door remotely. And we have a camera pointing to the door from the outside so we can visually check for safety before issuing a remote close. AND the myq opener has the flash and beeping before remote close.
Garage doors can be dangerous.
Right on! I don't have any lights or sirens (just the wife & I - no kids to worry about), but I too have appropriately placed cameras in the garage I'd check before closing the door remotely.
Knock on wood, I haven't ever had the need to do that, but knowing I can brings peace-of-mind!
100% this.
The IR-beam sensors that are required to be installed with a garage door opener (in the US at least) should always be functioning so that this never happens.
Itās inconvenient and could be expensive if it happens to your car. It would be potentially fatal if a person was underneath the door when it happened.
I suggest you ensure the built-in safety mechanism for your garage door is installed and working before you allow it to open/close even once more with an automation.
What about a motion in the garage and make a condition?
If you use myQ it flashes a light before it closes automatically. It makes it clear that the door is closing. That should not be hard program?
Lights flashing or audible alarm are great if there's any chance that someone could get caught. That's overkill for my just wife & I (and I would hate it, TBH), but would be a safety consideration if you have kids or routinely control your door remotely.
We rarely ever open/close it remotely, so checking a couple camera angles first is good enough for us for the rare times it's ever needed.
That makes sense.
The lights/alarm only happen if you close the door remotely with MyQ. Doesn't happen on local closes, and doesn't happen on opens remote or local.
For the once or twice a year we've used the close-remotely feature, the lights/alarm don't annoy us at all.
I do use more garage automation than most. But I live alone so safety is less of a concern. I have the door open automatically when I arrive.
I cut power to the opener in Away mode and Sleep mode. There are button controller overrides for both should I need to exit in a hurry.
I automate the heck out of my garage door.
I have it open automatically when we arrive and close 8 minutes later. That's actually plenty of time to unload groceries. I turn the outside garage light on to indicate the timer is counting down, even during the day. (A color bulb would be better, but I'm controlling a switch.) Before it closes, my rule flashes the lights. I actually prefer the flashing and beeping from the MyQ opener, but I can't trigger that locally.
The door will only close automatically if it was opened automatically on arrival or if one of us becomes not present within 15 minutes of opening. If I open it manually, say to mow the lawn, it will stay open all day until I close it manually or we both become not present.
What you describe wouldn't have been prevented by my rules, though. If my wife was leaving just as I become not present, it would trigger the door to close, albeit after the flashing light warning. I like your idea of cancelling or restarting the timer if the entry door is opened. That seems like it would work perfectly.
I installed our door safety sensors per the instructions, but after reading this thread, I think I should move them up so they don't shoot clear under the wife's car. (I'm NOT moving them up high enough to catch my lifted Jeep. 
)
I do this for indicating closed status (so when I look back in my rearview mirror, I can see the state of the door sensor if the door itself can't be seen). I use RGB smart bulbs in the coach light fixtures. Greens indicate the door successfully closed.
They also work for holiday colors!
If you buy a garage door opener which allows unattended (remote) operation, 16 CFR Ā§ 1211.14 ( Unattended operation requirements) requires audiovisual warnings, among other things.
If you assemble a solution on your own, you may be considered a "manufacturer", and expose yourself to liability if you don't follow the rules (which also include certification requirements).
Just sayin'.
True, but somewhat of an understatement that āsomething is wrongā 
You do this for security?
I just put in a smart plug for each of the three garage doors. Mostly for my likely never to be implemented load shed idea.
I'm thinking of other uses.
Maybe cycle power to provide a little more light for the 5 minutes they're on? (Note; I never did try to access the 'light' button on the wall control, but I assume that's not possible because of the IC nature of it).
I have the door open upon arrival and close 5 minutes after arrival. It also closes after departure, which with the SmartThings arrival sensor, is about 2 minutes. I also have all the doors close in the evening...9 o'clock, I think.
I still use the remotes in the car, except for arrival. We like that a lot.
Download the Hubitat app
