By: Uli Paul

Uli Paul — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 01:56:25 +0000

It depends on what you call “safety glass”. Here in Germany – and propably in the rest of Europe, too – we had a “safety glass” about 30 years ago (1970′s). It broke into little pieces about 5mmx5mm when breaking. Wounds due to cuts were dramatically reduced. But there were some disadvantages: If only a tiny portion of the wind-shield was shattered/hit the whole shield disintegrated into these 5x5mm pieces, effectually blocking all sight. You could destroy that “shield” by simply knocking it down like a Lego-wall – without injuries – but until then you were basically blind.

I had an accident of this kind in the early 1980′s (with the old “sequrity glass”) and I appreciate the new one with the plastic layer(s) between the glass panes. My current car has 2 “wounds” on the wind-shield , but it is still doing its job.

Remark: We have the TÃœV here in Germany and this instsitution is there (among a few other, but they have to be acredited, too) to ensure/test the safety of cars (among a lot of other things). But, as my damages lie outside the region the wipers sweep these damages are tolerated. This raises the question: why are they not tolerated at all? They are only minor specks in the field of view.

Comments on: Life’s little annoyances

By: Uli Paul