Is it legal/safe to drive with a cracked windcreen?

pookienoodle

stugib wrote: »

I had a 12 inch curved crack starting from the top edge on the passenger side. Drove with it for 3 days before Autoglass could get to me, over some very bumpy country lanes, and was fine. Don't fret about it, what's the worst that can happen? It's not going to shatter and cave in on you.

I have decided not to risk getting a ticket,and tbh is doesn't allow me a clear view out of the passanger side of the window(I am looking at it not through it iyswim?) and I live in a town with so many zebra crossings it makes you wonder if the council had a deal on stripey paint.
never mind its being fixed tommorrow.

Dave101t

if the police see it they can do you, same as defective lights. doubtful they would bother tho

skyflyer

the problem here is making a distinction between what is illegal or unsafe and what the police think is illegal or unsafe.

I travel a lot and in most other European countries it is common to see cars such as taxis (which are heavily regulated) with large cracks in the windscreen, particularly in the colder scandanavian countries.

This is neither unsafe nor (for them) illegal. the structural integrity of the windscreen comes from the way that the glass comprises two layers either side of a tough flexible see-through adhesive membrane. It doesnt shatter, it cracks.

However the cops wont be interested in any of that so you might end up with the choice of taking a ticket or defending the matter in court. Most people wont have the time, expertise or inclination to defend it in court so the end result is you will accept a ticket and pay the fine for something that is probably neither illegal nor dangerous.

Welcome to real life!

Parva

Or as in the case of the OP, be quite aware of the issues at hand but post here anyway and await the bites......

muckybutt

Auto glass.... imo are crap,ive had two windscreens from them and one chip repaired and they have all caused problems.

First new windscreen from them cracked because of a stress fault due to them fitting it incorrectly, took over a week to get them to replace that again.

Second replacement windscreen - only recently the fitter dented and chipped the paintwork on the bonnet of my car - they have now admitted responsibility and have agreed a respray / repair.

Third time, chip in windcsreen - repaired, was left proud and ruined a new set of wipers, it also fell out after a few days.

Gloomendoom

pookienoodle wrote: »

this seems to be different to what Autoglass have on their website.
quote
"A windscreen provides 30% of a car’s structural strength.."

I'd love to see the figures that back up this statement.

Joe_Horner

It's probably not legal if it's bad enough to need replacement but it's almost certainly safe. As one of the earlier posters pointed out, the structural strength that Autoglass are quoting (which, let's face it, doesn't exactly hurt their sales) only matters if you roll the car or have some other sort of big impact on the roof. If you're expecting to do that before Thursday then the screen is probably the least of your worries!

As for the legal side: if in doubt, remove the whole screen. No screen = MOT pass = legal (at least as far as the average person on the street is expected to know). Might want to take the wipers off as well to save them flapping around and getting damaged, and remember not to use the screen washer while it's out

Lum

Modern windscreens are glass laminate, there are at least two layers of glass with a cellulose layer between them. With normal cracks it's just the outer layer that goes. The inner layer remains structurally sound.

Providing the crack isn't sufficient to fail an MOT, just drive the car as normal.

mattyprice4004

This thread is from 2009, I think the OP has the issue fixed now...

Joe_Horner

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

This thread is from 2009, I think the OP has the issue fixed now...

Good spot, that man