Why You Should Have Your Auto Glass Replaced As Soon As Possible
Windshields that have been damaged will only get worse over time. At some point, your rear windshield will break into hundreds of little bits (as it was designed to do when damaged) or your front windshield will become dangerous, jagged shards. In either case, as the glass falls apart, some will fall inward while the rest falls outward. It will take a powerful shop vac to clean that up and you could still cut yourself. For this reason and the others that follow, you need auto glass replacement service as soon as possible.
Smaller Issues Can Be Repaired Before They Become Big Issues
A very common incident on the roads today is the gravel incident. This is where you drive along behind a big construction truck or a semi and a pebble or chunk of gravel hits your windshield and chips or cracks it. These damages are often quite small, but the overall integrity of the windshield is affected. If you get the windshield fixed/repaired, you can avoid having it replaced altogether.
Collisions Can Send the Damaged Glass into You
When you have a damaged windshield, the impact of a collision with another vehicle or a stationary object can cause the glass to finally break and/or shatter completely. If the impact is hard enough, the glass from the rear windshield will fly forward at your neck, scalp and shoulders. The glass in the front windshield can buckle and send shards straight at your face, hands, arms, torso and thighs. If you have an air bag that deploys from the steering column, it might prevent some of those shards from hitting your vital organs, but there are no guarantees in an accident.
The Damaged Glass Can Make Burglaries Easier
Finally, consider this aspect of your damaged windshield. Burglaries are often successful when the burglar can smash the glass and grab whatever he/she wants. However, this requires some major effort when the glass is intact. When your auto glass is already damaged and the integrity of the glass is no longer there, burglars can easily smash what is left of the glass and be far away from the scene.
Another case in point, the would-be burglars would see your broken windshield and automatically assume that it would have to be broken and replaced anyway. This is reason enough for them to finish the job (short of replacing the windshield, of course) and just take whatever they can find. The only upshot to that is that a smashed windshield and stolen items from your vehicle falls under auto insurance and the coverage it provides for these types of incidents.
