The Basics

Form

A windshield is made of three layers, two layers of standard annealed glass, with a layer of PVB in between.

Referred to as laminated glass, this configuration of materials provides superior impact resistance, high UV absorption, resistance to shattering, better noise reduction and improved optical clarity over a single layer glass.

Function

According to the National Glass Association, a windshield has 3 basic safety functions.

1.) To keep passengers from being ejected from the vehicle.

Your windshield was carefully designed to provide a very specific amount of resistance to impact. It is made so that it is firm enough to keep passengers from being ejected from the vehicle in a collision, but weak enough to break and deform if a person's head were to strike it.

2.) To absorb the impact when an airbag deploys.

When a front airbag is deployed, it bounces off the windshield before it comes into contact with the passenger so that all of the force of it's rapid expansion is not transferred directly to the person in the front seat.

3.) To support the roof.

The windshield provides up to 70 percent of the load bearing capability of the roof. This is critical to preventing the roof from collapsing in the case of a rollover.

Large cracks seriously hinder your windshield's ability to perform any of these three critical safety functions. For this reason, it is always best to get your windshield fixed as soon as you get a chip so it doesn't spread and put you or your passengers in harms way.