Windshield Glass Saves Lives

Misnomers are so confusing; don’t you agree? Take the word windshield glass; if you were in England people wouldn’t even know what you were talking about because a windshield there is called a windscreen which really makes no sense at all if you think about it.

Whew! No matter what you call it, the windshield glass is intended to keep you from getting hit smack dab in the face by flying dirt, gravel, McDonald’s wrappers and bugs not smart enough to get out of the way of a 3,000 pound vehicle driving right at them. Even the word glass is somewhat of a misnomer because it is more like three-layers of material using a process first invented by the French called glass laminating.

You see, there was this problem prior to 1919: when two cars ran into each other the windshield glass ( and it was truly just window glass back then) would shatter leaving some rather nasty cuts on the faces of the car passengers. Things like that tended to ruin a trip if you know what I mean. So Henry Ford used glass laminating (a French invention) on all of his cars. The process consists of two sheets of glass with an adhesive layer of cellulose in-between them; the cellulose bonds the glass and prevents pieces of glass from detaching in the event of a car accident. A brilliant process that has saved quite a few lives over the years.

The only other major change that has occurred over the years with regards to the windshield has to do with tinting to keep harmful UV rays from doing damage to the passengers’ skin. Most modern cars have a certain degree of tinting on all windshields; local, regional and national laws may and do restrict the amount of tinting that can be done, however, because one, it can be a safety factor and two, law enforcement types like to be able to see inside of a vehicle and tinting restricts that visual access.

Are windshields hard to replace? Not at all! Are windshields expensive? Not at all if you buy a used windshield or any used part from a salvage yard like Cash-n-Carry. However, if you buy an aftermarket windshield and have a mechanic install it for you then yes, windshield replacement is expensive. Here is what you should do: go to our You Pull It Savannah salvage yard, buy a used windshield, go home and install it and then take the money you saved on our used auto parts and treat yourself to a nice dinner out tonight.