The first and most important reason you should not put off getting a
windshield repair on your car is for your safety and the safety of every passenger in your car.
If your driving down the highway at 55 mph and your windshield chip becomes a large crack, there is a good chance it will startle you and you could lose control of your car and be involved in a serious automobile accident. Is it really worth it to put off a rock chip repair and put your life and lives of everyone in your car and any other cars involved in an accident? Not when an auto glass repair is quick and inexpensive.
There are several other reasons why you should have professional auto glass installers either do a rock chip repair or a windshield repair before that little chip or crack turns into windshield replacement.
It is illegal to drive with a chip or crack in your windshield that is larger than 12 inches or in any part of your viewing field while driving.
Your car’s windshield provides about 30 percent of your car’s structural strength. In an accident the windshield helps support the car's roof, it helps the airbags to deploy and prevents you, the front seat passenger and even the passengers in the backseat from being ejected out of your car. As you can see your car’s windshield is responsible for a lot of the safety features in your car.
A chip in your windshield can crack at any time. Any increased pressure (from the heat, cold or driving the car) could turn that chip into a large crack at any time, even when you are driving.
Fixing a windshield chip can prevent a having to have an auto glass replacement down the road.
Cold & Warm Weather StressIf you live in the Twin cities of Minneapolis or St Paul then you know how bitter cold the winters can be. According to a study conducted by the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), windshield chips have a high probability of spreading more than 80% of the time when the temperatures reach or decrease below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The chipped windshield that was tested during the study also revealed a 60% chance of cracking when the temperature reached tested at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
During the study performed by the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) also concluded that chips in the windshield are more likely to become vertical cracks. Due to the fact, that the heat warps the windshield glass, which may lead to the windshield cracking by itself. The cool air from the air conditioning can make a chip more likely to crack.
Driving StressThere are a lot of things that people do not realize can affect their car’s windshield while driving some of the things include:
Hitting a pothole can jar your chipped windshield
Driving over railroad tracks also puts added stress on the chipped windshield
Speed bumps are awful for a chipped windshield regardless of how slow you drive over it, the up and down movement stresses the entire car not just the windshield
Uneven terrain may cause a chipped windshield to crack. The force of the car bumping up and down for an extended period of time, is rattling the vulnerable windshield the entire time adds an enormous amount of stress to the windshield.
Although it is impossible to determine how long it will take the chipped windshield to crack or for a crack to spread, the study indicates that weather and driving stressors will eventually require your car to need a windshield repair or replacement.
At
Only 1 Auto Glass in the Minneapolis, St Paul, Twin Cities we repair and replace Auto Glass in MN. Give us a call to make an appointment or check out our website and get a free quote.