Your car’s windscreen is a necessary but pretty boring part of your vehicle, right? That is until something goes wrong, usually at the most inconvenient time. Here are six things you need to know about windscreen safety.
1. A small chip probably doesn’t require a full windscreen replacement. Windscreen chips and cracks can often be repaired, which is a much more environmentally-friendly solution than replacing your whole windscreen. Even though most elements of a used windscreen can be recycled, the waste created from a chip repair is 99% less than the waste from a full replacement.
2. Don’t assume that small chips are not a big deal. Temperature changes, vibration from driving and other environmental factors can cause little chips to expand into larger cracks which will compromise the structural integrity of your windscreen. Plus, it is much cheaper to repair a chip than replace the entire windscreen.
3. Windscreens have a zone called the CVA (critical vision area). This is measured from the centre of the steering wheel, including an area 150mm to the left and right and the full height of the glass excluding the top and bottom 100mm. Any damage here would not only impede the driver’s vision it would make your car fail a WOF. There are also laws around how many repairs are permitted in this area before the windscreen must be replaced.
4. Windscreen replacement involves more than just glass for most modern vehicles. Today’s cars often have Advanced Driver Assistance Systems with cameras fitted to the windscreens for things like lane departure warnings, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and vehicle/pedestrian detection. When replacing the windscreen these cameras and systems also need to be recalibrated.
5. Modern vehicle windscreens are made from laminated glass. This means they have three layers – glass- laminate-glass. 99% of windscreen chips and cracks are simply damage to the outside layer of glass, so there is very little risk of the windscreen completely shattering because it is still held together by the other two layers.
6. Side and body glass generally isn’t laminated, so any damage to side glass or rear windows that is more significant than a scratch will likely cause the glass to shatter.
AA Auto Glass offers all services related to vehicle glass – that includes cars, vans, trucks and even the odd machinery job on tractors or diggers. From repairs to replacements for windscreens and side and rear windows, these services are mobile and can be completed by a glass technician at your home or work, often in as little as 30 minutes if it’s a small chip.