We all know that it’s sensible to get chips cracks and scratches attended to quickly before they develop into more serious damage. No sensible individual wants to be stranded at the roadside waiting for a windscreen repair when they should be on their way to work, an event or on holiday. However, there are many and varied ways that your car windscreen or 4×4 windscreen can get damaged while you’re out on the road, and some of these dangers are avoidable with a little common sense. Here are a few tips to avoid at least some of the hazards your windscreen faces every single journey.
Flying debris
This can be a real nuisance, and you can’t always avoid it, but there are some ways in which you can minimise the effect on your car bodywork, windows and windscreen.
Keep your distance – driving too close to the vehicle in front (tailgating) is not only illegal, it can also leave you open to damage by flying stones and other road debris. The closer you are to the vehicle in front, the more likely any flying stones are to hit your vehicle, resulting in a chipped or scratched windscreen. Keep a sensible distance, and you will minimise the risk.
Look out for hazardous loads – another problem with driving close to other vehicles (especially HGVs) is that their loads can unexpectedly shed material. A case in point occurred recently in Shropshire where a driver was lucky to survive when some large beams fell off a vehicle and crashed through the passenger side of his car windscreen. Luckily there was no passenger in that seat, or the result could have been a lot worse than it was. The driver was able to pull up safely, suffering from shock but no major injury. The lorry driver did not stop, in fact he was probably unaware that the incident had occurred, and police are seeking witnesses.
Drive carefully on loose surfaces – newly-laid and re-surfaced roads are an obvious source of stone chips. These days, road contractors seem to use passing traffic as a replacement for a road roller, and leave it to the motorist to bed the stones into the road surface. The really unfair thing about driving on a newly-surfaced road is that it is the vehicle behind you that is more likely to suffer a chipped windscreen than your own vehicle. Once again, keep your distance from the vehicle in front, and drive at a sensible speed to give any following vehicles the chance to avoid their windscreens getting chipped.
Road spray
This doesn’t exactly damage your windscreen, but it is a danger as the spray chucked up by other vehicles in wet weather usually contains oily residues which can cloud your windscreen, reducing your visibility even when your windscreen wipers have cleared away the water. You know what’s coming – keep your distance. Yes, it’s the same advice as before. Keep back from the vehicle in front, and the spray will mostly land on the road, not on your windscreen.
For any problems with a chipped windscreen or a damaged windscreen, the myWindscreen network of expert windscreen repair technicians is on hand to offer help, advice and great value windscreen repairs and replacements – find your nearest auto glazier here, and get yourself back on the road without delay.
