This event occurred on June 3, 2021. The passenger sliding door sunshade (in use) began to rip from the top edge due to a 3.4 year old child pulling on it from their front facing carseat on a long drive. Unknown to the driver, the sunshade fabric had ripped about 5 inches away, leaving a portion of the rod exposed. When the damage was noticed, the driver disconnected the shade and recessed it for the next duration of travel in an attempt to keep the child safe and to ensure no further damage to the shade. While continuing the drive child, the child reached over and had begun mouthing the end of the rod while recessed. The van later stopped. Driver opened automatic sliding door from outside unknowingly while rod was in toddler's mouth. As the door retracted to the rear, the exposed rod end was thrust down the toddler's throat. The child shrieked in pain and fear. Driver reached around and attempted to pull the rod forward from the toddler's throat unsuccessfully (because the door was still in backwards movement. The toddler's head was pinned. The child finally turned their head towards the door and the road sprung out from pressure. Child had bruising and slight bleeding from the back of throat and a scrape along the inside of the cheek where the rod drug on its way out of the mouth. Child was removed from carseat and checked for severe injuries. There was no significant bleeding, the airway was unaffected, and photographs could not be taken due to the locati