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3 Reasons You Can’t Ever Ignore a Cracked Windshield

A windshield crack can show up at the most inconvenient time, such as when you’re planning a long trip or when your budget is a little tight. The inconvenience alone can make you wonder if perhaps you aren’t better off just taking that car on the road and taking your chances for a few days… or weeks.

READ ALSO:HOW TO CHECK YOUR CAR BEFORE A ROAD TRIP

Stop right there! A cracked or chipped windshield isn’t something you can simply ignore while hoping for the best. There are some very good reasons that you shouldn’t try to drive your vehicle long distances until you’ve had the chance to schedule a full windshield repair.

It’s Dangerous

Windshield cracks are dangerous. There’s a reason that windshields are as large and unobstructed as possible. It’s to prevent any blindness of the oncoming road and the other vehicles, pedestrians and objects that might be on it.

Any crack has the potential to create a new blind spot in your vision. Even if it’s out of the way or over the passenger side instead of the driver side, it’s reducing your vision. The kind of accidents that happen when you can’t see something approaching can be catastrophic. Don’t take the risk, just choose to get your windshield repaired as fast as possible.

It Just Gets More Expensive

It doesn’t get cheaper to fix a windshield crack if you try to ignore it. Even over the course of a few days, the damage can become radically more expensive. It’s important to understand that windshields are carefully designed for structural support. Windshields don’t shatter and are resistant to stresses that would crack other glass because of precise decisions to shape and seal windshields in certain ways.

This intensely scientific work becomes irrelevant if you ignore large cracks. The windshield will no longer respond as expected, because it is no longer structurally sound. There is no predicting what will happen in situations like high pressure and winds, hailstorms and minor collisions that once wouldn’t have affected the glass at all. Maybe the cracks will suddenly spread to the whole windshield?

Cracks usually grow bigger on their own, because the stress of the engine running alone creates friction and movement between the cracks. All this adds up to major expenses, even if you did manage to avoid bigger problems.

It’s Against the Law in Many Countries

Driving with a crack in the windshield is against road laws in most countries. It’s simply unsafe, mostly because of the obstructed vision we talked about, and the fact that vision can become even more obstructed suddenly and without warning.

You may think that a windshield repair is an expensive chore, but at least it’s not as expensive as paying for a full repair AND a ticket and court fee.

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