Exploded rear window!

My husband was driving to work the other day when BAM the rear window just shattered, exploding glass! Luckily no one else was in the car, for example our rear facing 2 yr old! He said nothing hit the window all of a sudden there was just a smashing sound.  He said the glass exploded everywhere!  Well here I am to tell you the ins and outs of the mystery of the exploding glass.

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Luckily windows in cars are made with tempered glass, also known as safety glass.  This glass breaks into balls that won’t cut you instead of shards like regular glass that will cut you to ribbons.   Tempered glass is made using a thermal process that makes it heat resistant. You can find it in all sorts of places like your shower, skylights and in your oven but anyway back to the car…..

Why did it just explode like that?!?! Well chances are it didn’t.  More than likely at some point it was struck by something and there was a tiny crack.   Tempered glass can handle stress but over time that tiny crack gets put under more and more stress until, like some humans, it’s had enough and just explodes! Not as much of a mystery as I had originally hoped for but makes sense none the less.

So what do you do next?  First thing is to call your insurance company to see if you have glass insurance, luckily we do! Then it’s time to break out your best vacuum cleaner and thoroughly vacuum the inside of your car (including car seats!). Now time to invest in plastic wrap, see through tarps and tape until you can get it fixed.

So the case of the exploding glass is solved.  Stay tuned to this blog spot for more car mysteries and as always, DRIVE SAFE!