Your car’s windshield is crucial for your safety and the safety of your passengers. Not only does it protect the vehicle’s interior and occupants from external elements, but it also allows drivers to have a clearer vision of the surroundings.
Aside from that, the windshield adds structural integrity to the vehicle. It serves as a supporting beam and strengthens the frame of your vehicle, preventing the roof from collapsing and crushing you in the event of a rollover accident. Also, in the event of a collision, the windshield protects you from being flung out.
Undoubtedly, your vehicle’s windshield is a crucial safety component, but did you know there are some intriguing facts about auto glass?
Fact 1: Windshields are made of Tempered Glasses
Tempered glass is used in the side and rear windows of cars to lessen the danger of injury from flying glass in accidents as a precautionary step.
In the event of a break, tempered glass does not shatter into a swarm of sharp, jagged fragments. The entire glass is broken into small pebble-sized pieces rather than shattering. This allows drivers and passengers have a better chance of avoiding serious injuries.
Fact 2: Windshields Provide Support To The Car’s Roof
Windshields are essential in providing vehicle roof support. In the event of a rollover accident, a robust windshield will keep the roof from collapsing on the occupants. A windshield also maintains the structural integrity of a car; if the roof’s structural integrity is compromised, it has the potential to collapse and injure everyone inside the vehicle.
Fact 3: Tinting Auto Glass Provide Increased Level Of Protection
Tinted windshields improve the appearance of automobiles while also increasing the level of safety provided by your windshield. Tinting acts as a shield against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, thereby reducing damage to automobile glass.
Fact 4: Auto Glass Damage Is Covered By Insurance
Car insurance, like health and life insurance, is one of the most often filed insurances. Every day, car owners and drivers file windshield glass damage claims with their auto insurance providers. Due to the continual exposure of windshields to the weather and a range of road conditions, it is one of the most common types of car insurance claims. As a result of these situations, chips, cracks, and other problems are rather prevalent.
Fact 5: Auto Glass is Hard to Shatter
The majority of windshields are constructed of laminated glass, which is composed of two distinct glass panes separated by a transparent plastic coating. In the event of a break, the intermediary layer maintains the glass together, preventing fragmentation.
Laminated glass is a common safety element in modern cars since it minimizes the risk of glass-related injuries. After a series of crashes in the early twentieth century, standard window glass was replaced by harder glass.
Fact 6: The Use Of A Windscreen Was Initially Optional
The most surprising of all is that there were no windshields when motor vehicles were first introduced. They were initially not required. In fact, they were luxury products back then. So, in place of windshields, drivers and passengers donned goggles and scarves to keep their faces protected from external elements, such as rain and UV rays.
Fact 7: Windshields Are Essential for Airbags to Function Properly.
In many instances, auto airbags actually make use of the windshield in order to deploy properly. When an accident occurs, the glass helps to put the airbag in the right position.
Fact 8: Windshield Glass were introduced by a Woman
In 1903, a woman called Mary Anderson invented windshields. Upon noticing a New York City trolley car having problems cleaning snow from its windscreen. She felt compelled to take action to come up with some solutions.
Fact 9: Auto Glass Replacement Is One Of The Most Reported Insurance Claims.
Another interesting fact about windshield repair is that it is one of the most often reported types of motor insurance claims. In fact, it is estimated that windshield damage accounts for 30% of all auto insurance claims filed.
Fact 10: The invention of Shatter proof Glass Was Accidental.
Edouard Benedictus, a French chemist, came up with the notion of shatterproof glass by accident after dropping a glass flask filled with cellulose nitrate. Benedictus remarked that the glass did not break; however, he would not patent this invention for automobiles until 1909.
Laminated, shatterproof glass made a significant contribution to the advancement of automotive safety. During World War I, it was also used inside the eyepieces of gas masks to provide further protection.