How Automotive Glass Works

How Automotive Glass Works

When you’re inside your car, you’re surrounded by glass, including the windshield and the windows. These look like regular glass pieces, or like your windows at home, but they’re very different.

Automotive glass is very strong. If it breaks because of an accident or collision, it’s designed to protect the vehicle’s shape and the people in the car. It may crack in an accident, but it is shatter-resistant to further protect occupants from injury.

 

How Advances in Automotive Glass Keeps You Safe

In the 1970s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was established and required that certain standards be implemented to improve driver safety. Their regulations include window transparency, window strength, windshield retention strength, roof rigidity, and how windshields react in an accident. These advancements are one of the reasons why automotive glass is so safe now.

 

There are two types of automotive glass:

Windshield Repair

 

·        Laminated. This glass is used to create the windshield, and it’s designed to keep most of the sun’s UV rays out of your car. The glass’s special properties are created with a layer of material called polyvinyl butyral that sits in between two sheets of glass. Once the materials are made airtight by applying pressure and heat, the glass can now react by absorbing the power that’s created during an accident. Although the windshield can crack, it remains in one piece.

·        Tempered. This glass is used for your car’s side and back windows. It’s created differently by using a heating and cooling process, which makes it very strong. The edges of the glasses are weaker, and if your car is in an accident, this means that the glass breaks in small, blunted pieces. This enables a car’s occupant to escape from a side or back window after a bad accident.

 

Together, these automotive glass types protect you during accidents while allowing your air bag to deploy at the right time.

 

Pittsburgh Auto Glass Repair

While a windshield is incredibly strong, sometimes it’s hit by a rock or piece of debris with such force that it cracks. Over time, the crack will get larger and larger, weakening the structure of the glass.

 

If your windshield has been damaged, it’s very important to have it replaced. While windshields are very strong, any damage means that they may not fully protect you during an accident. If you need windshield glass repair in Pittsburgh, call Three Rivers Auto. We’ll come right to your home or your work, repair and replace the glass, and handle your insurance claims too.

 

Three Rivers Auto has seven locations around the area for Pittsburgh auto glass repair. Call us or visit our website, use our special coupons, and feel safe driving around in your car.

Denny Toth
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