Nobody wants the windshield of their car to break or shatter, for obvious reasons. But for some, fixing this issue could be lower on their priority lists than it should be- especially if the crack seems small. “It’s just a tiny crack,” one could reason. “It’s not worth the cost of a repair job.”
On the contrary, though they may appear relatively harmless, cracked windshields can lead to any number of serious, and potentially even life-threatening, problems. While a break in the glass of your windshield is not grounds for a tow truck- you’re usually safe enough to be able to drive to an autobody shop- allowing a chipped windshield to remain unrepaired for an extended period of time is not a good idea.
Here are three of the most common problems that may arise from not fixing a cracked windshield.
A Small Crack Can Turn Into a Large Crack
Once the integrity of the glass shield has been compromised to even the slightest degree, the door has been opened for more damage- and that damage can happen simply by you not doing anything. External moisture or sudden temperature changes can really test the strength of the glass. On top of that, simply turning on your car and putting it in motion- which could feature hitting a pothole, speed bump, or a sizeable crack in the road- means that a piece of glass with a crack in it has been placed into motion as well, and the physics of that don’t tend to work out too kindly for that piece of glass.
Your visibility is compromised
As mentioned above, a small crack could grow into a large crack, which also means that your visibility of the road is decreased. It’s bad enough to have to navigate around a spiderweb-shaped crack on your windshield on a clear day in the open road. If dirt, gravel, or even water are kicked up off the road and onto your windshield, not only is that likely to cause more damage to the glass of your windshield, but on top of that, now you’ve got additional debris obscuring your view of your surroundings. Needless to say, that could lead to an accident- and one that could have easily been avoided.
Even with a small crack, your protection from external debris is compromised
Windshields are your only line of defense from anything outside of your car. Between pebbles, deer antlers, dirt, and even other cars, there’s a lot out there that could hurt you if your windshield strength is weakened. As such, many windshields are actually comprised of two layers of glass, both of which are equipped with adhesives that usually keep shards of glass from falling into your car and harming you in the event of an accident. But even that isn’t guaranteed to protect you if your windshield takes additional damage after already being chipped or cracked. When in doubt, always err on the side of safety!
If your windshield has been damaged, don’t wait and let the damage grow worse. Contact our team of professionals at Fender Mender right away and we’ll take care of it!