Safe auto glass is one of the best investments you can make for yourself and the people around you. That’s because safe auto glass, also called auto safety glass, protects you in several ways.
First, it provides a substantial amount of strength to the structure of the vehicle’s cabin. Safe auto glass, especially in your car’s windshield, adds as much as 50% to the structural strength of the cabin during a front-end collision, and up to 60% in a rollover accident.
The windshield is a vital component of your vehicle’s safety equipment. If your vehicle has a cracked windshield or broken windshield, you’re less protected.
Not only does the windshield help keep the roof from collapsing during an accident, it also keeps vehicle occupants from being ejected, as well as positioning the airbags properly to protect vehicle occupants during an impact.
Auto safety glass is critically important for your safety, and it’s also important to make sure that any windshield replacement or other auto glass repair is performed by experienced, certified professionals such as the team here at Andy’s American Glass.
What is auto safety glass?
By its nature, ordinary glass is relatively fragile and easily broken. In order to make more-durable products, many kinds of safety glass have been developed for use in building construction, industry, and automotive applications.
Automobile safety glass is manufactured with extra features which make it harder to break, and less likely to cause injuries or other damage if it’s broken. Vehicle safety glass is available in several types, including tempered glass or toughened glass, and laminated glass.
The side windows of most vehicles are made of tempered glass, and windshields typically are both tempered as well as having one or more layers of plastic laminate sandwiched between layers of glass.
Toughened or tempered glass is made with a series of chemical and thermal treatments which greatly increase its strength when compared against normal glass. The tempering process leads to a balancing of internal stresses.
So, when tempered glass breaks it separates into chunks of similar size, without sharp edges, instead of breaking into random, jagged splinters. Everyone has seen the characteristic “spider web” appearance of tempered glass when broken.
From the standpoint of safety, tempered auto glass is a lifesaver – Broken chunks of tempered glass aren’t sharp, so they rarely cause any injury.
Beyond vehicle windows, tempered safety glass is also used in many other applications, including shower doors, cookware, refrigerator shelves, doors for commercial buildings, bulletproof glass, and even scuba diving masks.
In fact, U.S. federal law mandates the use of safety glass for a variety of applications, including motor vehicles.
Tucson’s best source for auto safety glass
Andy’s American Glass is proud to be Tucson’s favorite source for automotive safety glass. We have a large inventory of windshield replacement glass, as well as car windows to find any kind of vehicle.
With forty years of experience, we replace windshields and vehicle windows right the first time, so you’re protected in case of an accident.
Best of all, we offer the best auto glass quotes anywhere in southern Arizona.
Need auto glass? We can help. Just contact Andy’s American Glass now for same-day service.