PURPOSE: To inhibit a closing motion of a slide panel and prevent an obstacle from being caught by the slide panel under an undetectable condition of the obstacle, by detecting abnormality when a signal from a light emitting element is blocked by the obstacle and the signal is not received by a light receiving element.

CONSTITUTION: An opening 11 of an automotive roof is slidingly opened and closed by a slide panel 12. The panel 12 is driven by a drive motor 16 which is connected to drive cables 13 and 14 and a motor 15. A light emitting element 17 and a light receiving element 18 are fixed on both sides of the opening 11 by brackets 19. When an operating switch 20 is operated to instruct a closing drive of the panel 12, a closing drive signal is supplied from a drive circuit to the motor 15 to move the panel 12 in a closing direction. When a light beam is blocked by an obstacle such as a human body, a receiving signal is not obtained and this situation is detected by a comparator 26, which in turn acts to feed a motor stop signal to a circuit to stop the motor 15.