How Protective Are Windshields Really?
Here is a question we get asked all the time, “My windshield is cracked pretty badly, is it still safe to drive?”. The short answer to that question is YES, it is safe to drive, however the long answer is maybe.
Windshields are designed to keep the driver and the passenger as safe as possible from any impact hitting the windshield. Windshields are made of 2 layers of glass with a plastic vinyl in between the 2 pieces of glass. The 3 layers are then laminated by applying extreme heat and pressure in a special oven called and autoclave.
The reason for the lamination process, is in the event of an object impacting the windshield, only the outer layer gets broken. In some cases, both layers of glass can break but since both layers of glass have been laminated to the plastic vinyl the windshield is still held together, thus making the vehicle still safe to drive. The only thing that may concern drivers is the visibility becomes an issue so as long as the impact isn’t on the drivers view then it should be more than okay to drive.
