A lot of people ask, “How come my side glass shattered when It broke and my windshield just chipped”?  Some people are even concerned, after experiencing a piece of broken side glass, that their windshield will break in the same fashion while they are driving!  That is why I decide to write this informative article briefly explaining the differences between the two types of automotive glass.

First of all it is important to know that there IS a difference between your windshield and the rest of the glass in your car.  This is quite an important difference too.  Can you imagine if you were driving down I-10 at 70 mph,  a rock hits your windshield and it “explodes” into a million pieces in your lap!  Not a dream situation.

For that reason your windshield is made of LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS.  What makes it unique is its special construction, designed to withstand impacts by small objects without shattering and to offer optimum safety in the event of a crash.  LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS is made up of two pieces of glass, with a thin layer of vinyl sandwiched between them.  The three pieces are laminated together by applying heat and pressure in a special oven called an autoclave.When a small object strikes a piece of safety glass, often only the outer layer breaks.  This is what makes windshield rock chip repair possible.

In a more severe impact, the glass “shatters” but usually does not fly apart – the broken pieces of glass generally adhere to the vinyl inner lining.  LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS also acts as a barrier to wind and objects moving inside the vehicle, hence the name “windshield”.

The side and rear windows are made of TEMPERED GLASS.  As the name implies, the glass has been “tempered”, i.e., put through a special process where it is heated, then rapidly cooled.  This “tempering” process makes the glass many times stronger than un-tempered glass of the same thickness.

Upon impact, TEMPERED GLASS is designed to disintegrate into small pieces of glass about the size of rock salt.  There should be no large, jagged pieces of glass to injure the driver or passengers.  However, don’t be fooled, the small pieces of glass may look harmless but if you try to sweep them off the seats in the car with your hands when cleaning them up, you can get cut pretty badly.   Also know that the force necessary to break a piece of tempered glass is considerably more than an un-tempered or laminated piece.

I hope this has helped you to understand the difference between the LAMINATED glass in your windshield and the TEMPERED glass in the rest of your automobile.  If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us.  Also read other informative articles in our Blog.