‘Can a car window’s glass shatter without being hit?’ [Newbie Guide]

Although automotive glass is engineered to be a functional part of your car’s structure, it's still one of the weakest areas of a vehicle. Being made of a fragile material, glass usually needs to be reinforced against physical impacts, primarily to avoid producing shards that can cause serious injury to occupants.

There are instances where automotive glass fractures for seemingly no reason 

However, there have been instances where a car’s window ended up being shattered, and it would be quite a shock to suddenly find yourself driving with broken glass on an otherwise uneventful trip. What’s even more mind-boggling is that the glass wasn’t hit or struck by anything to have caused the damage. Does this qualify as a mystery to you? 

Automotive glass that ‘spontaneously’ breaks is far from being some paranormal occurrence. While the glass seemed fine since nothing came in contact with it right before the damage occurred, the key phrase is “right before,” which means that the window glass was already struck by something, somewhere, at some previous point in time. It’s part of the abuse that automotive glass was built to withstand, but then, it all adds up. 

New car windows to replace damaged ones must be installed properly by trained staff

One of the things that can aggravate this is a change in ambient temperature, causing the glass to either expand or contract. There’s no issue if the glass is intact, but an unnoticed chip or crack spreads the damage each time the glass is subject to temperature extremes. Vibrations from driving the car on the road can worsen the problem, leading the glass to eventually break.            

Another factor is improper installation. The equipment used to attach the glass to the vehicle’s frame (likely after an accident) might have poor quality, or the glass could have been handled by untrained staff. Gaps will appear between the glass and the frame, again made worse by vibrations generated when the car is driven, increasing the risk of the glass popping out and shattering.  

Impurities in the manufacturing process contribute to hidden damage within the glass, manifesting years or even decades later  

A third reason would be impurities in the glass itself. Small pieces of nickel sulfide can get inside layers of tempered glass during the manufacturing process, compromising the structural integrity of the glass panel. Spontaneous fractures are known to occur years or even decades after the glass has been manufactured, simply due to the presence of these contaminants.

Find more tips for beginner car owners at Philkotse.com.