Did you know? Your Windscreen Provides Up to 47% of your Vehicle’s Structural Integrity

There are many theories bandied around about the importance of windscreens relative to vehicle safety.

Based on my own experience, your windscreen has an enormous impact on potentially protecting you in an accident. According to the Victorian Motor Vehicle Chamber of Commerce (VACC), your windscreen provides up to 47% of your vehicle’s structural integrity.

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What does this mean?

Your vehicle’s structural integrity refers to the strength of your vehicle – particularly when

involved in an accident. Imagine reducing the strength of your vehicle by almost half and how that would reduce your vehicle’s ability to protect you.

Throughout my career, I’ve seen many vehicles literally crushed as the result of a serious accident. In the event of an accident, a damaged windscreen can significantly diminish your level of protection and unfortunately, his often results in serious injury or death.

Apart from the level of devastation caused in these situations, the truly sad thing is that a significant proportion of these injuries and/or deaths could most likely have been prevented – only if the driver had realised the significance of his or her windscreen.

The other important thing to note here is that a chipped or cracked windscreen can impair your vision and for obvious reasons, this is a major cause of accidents.

It’s extremely important that you understand when your vehicle’s windscreen can be repaired and when it must be replaced. This depends on the type and extent of damage and while there are generally accepted standards that dictate what action is required, unfortunately many windscreen fitters are not sufficiently experienced or skilled to know the difference.

 

When do you need to replace your windscreen?

Generally speaking, a severely cracked, chipped, scratched (or otherwise damaged) windscreen MUST be replaced.

Based on NSW Vehicle Standards Information, the area of the windscreen in front of the driver extending across to the centre line of the vehicle is only allowed to have two of the following defects:

  • A hairline crack up to 30mm long
  • A crack from the edge up to 75mm long
  • A ‘bullseye’ crack up to 16mm diameter

The ‘bottom’ line’ here is that in the interests of your safety, you MUST inspect your windscreen AND if you have any doubts, give us a call and we’ll inspect it FREE of charge and give you the very best advice…based on my 26 years’ experience. We service the Gold Coast and Yatala region, and specialize in repair and replacement of windscreens for your cars, vans & trucks.

Don’t wait until you have reason to regret inaction. When it comes to your safety, I can tell you from many years of personal experience, prevention is definitely better than cure!

If you believe your windscreen is damaged or needs replacing I can perform a free of charge inspections on the Gold Coast or Yatala as well as carry out a ‘7 Point Safety Check to give you the peace of mind that you have done everything you can to protect yourself and your loved ones.