Your car windows are more important to the structure and functionality of your car than you realise. Sit in your car and look around. You are literally surrounded by windows on all sides – the windscreen, the rear windscreen, and the side windows. And these windows help your vehicle in more ways than one.
While car windows do serve a purpose in enjoying the view as you drive, as well as enhance the driver’s visibility, they have a far more important job. Your auto glass contributes to:
- The aerodynamics of the car
- The structural integrity of the car
- Shares the weight of the roof and bonnet
- Helps ensure the airbag deploys appropriately
As a result, if your car windows are damaged, you can’t afford to ignore them, even if you see repairs as an inconvenience. The importance of your auto glass to the overall structure and performance of the car is the reason professionals tell you must get damaged glass repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
What is the Anatomy of Autoglass?
Many people assume the glass in their car is all the same. However, the rear and side windows are made from tempered glass while the windscreen is made from laminated glass.
Tempered glass is treated in a way to ensure that, it is breaks, it shatters into relatively blunt-edged pieces instead of shards. This helps protect both the driver and the passengers from more severe glass injuries during a crash.
Laminated glass, on the other hand, is durable in the way it responds to pressure. As a result, impacts tend to be different. While repairs to tempered and laminated glass are often the same, it is important to understand why some damage requires repair while other damage requires replacement.
The Purpose of Side and Rear Windows
Side and rear windows play a vital role in the driver’s visibility, as well as allowing passengers an unobstructed view during a drive. But they are also integral to the safety of those in the vehicle. The tempered glass of the side and rear windows creates a barrier between you and any accidental destruction from outside. It shelters the driver and passengers from harsh weather elements – including rain, hail, etc – as well as from debris.
They also protect against noise pollution by bringing the decibel level down while driving. While we still hear construction noise, horns, etc. as we drive, the sound is brought to a safer level. Which is why repairing damage to the side and rear windows are important, to ensure the car remains safe and functional.
Why Is It Important to Have Your Windscreen Replaced?
Your windscreen plays a vital role in vehicle safety. The windscreen plays an important role in the structural integrity of your car, supporting the roof. Made from laminated glass, the windscreen is designed to shatter but remains mostly intact after an impact. When an airbag is deployed, the windscreen ensures the airbag is guided into the right place during deployment.
The airbag is, of course, designed to inflate toward you. However, when if the windscreen is cracked or chipped, it becomes significantly weakened. As a result, when the airbag inflates, it may push the windscreen out, causing the airbag to inflate away from you. As a result, even a chip can be a life-threatening level of damage, especially during an accident.
Further, if a chip is placed under stress, it can form a very sudden, very severe crack. This can affect your vision, risking not only your safety but also the safety of others on the road. This is why you need to get damaged glass repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
Repair a Chip or Crack as Soon as You See It!
If your windscreen already has damage, you need to have a professional assess it as soon as possible. Delaying puts you, your passengers, and other drivers at risk. Further, this minor damage can quickly become life-threatening in a crash, as we mentioned above.
The cost of repairing damage is far less than leaving the damage to get worse, which will result in a more expensive windscreen or auto glass replacement. Rear and side windows will likely require replacement, as tempered glass doesn’t stay together like laminated glass as it is designed to shatter into tiny pieces. Windscreen glass, on the other hand, utilises the lamination to keep the glass together. As a result, as long as the damage is outside of the driver’s field of vision, it can usually be repaired rather than requiring a full replacement.
Keeping your car safe on the road is of utmost importance. Not only is it important to protect your safety and that of your passengers, especially during an accident, you also need to protect other drivers on the road. Which is why you must get damaged glass repaired as soon as possible. Quality Fit Windscreens offers mobile windscreen repair and replacement across Melbourne. Let us help you keep your car and your passengers safe today and book your car for repairs, today!