You’re driving along with your family, heading to a beach vacation or just taking your children to school in the morning before you go into work.
You’re always a careful driver — especially with your kids in the car. You put on your turn signal, obey traffic laws, and insist on everyone buckling up.
But you can’t control the drivers in front of and around you — and their reckless driving, or just the size of their vehicles, can put you at risk.
Rock chips could hit your windshield at any moment, reducing your visibility and making it tough for you to drive.
You don’t want this to happen.
So, what can you do to stop windshield cracks from happening in the first place?
To learn how to stay safe and avoid having to make costly repairs, keep on reading this post.
1. Watch Yourself on the Road
If you want to stop windshield cracks from damaging your car, the first thing you need to do is embrace a little bit of defensive driving.
Your behavior on the road can do a lot to ensure that rock chips don’t hit your windshield.
First of all, if possible, aim to avoid driving behind larger vehicles and trucks — those that are so big, they require two sets of tires on the rear wheels. These types of cars are much more likely to kick up rocks.
Even if you’re driving behind a standard vehicle, keeping a safe distance is still important (of course, for many more reasons than just avoiding rocks.)
In general, aim for about two a two-car distance between you and the vehicle in front of you when you’re driving on the interstate.
Keep your speed at a safe and normal limit, too.
After all, the faster that you’re going when a rock or other debris does collide with your window?
The greater the damage it’s likely to do.
If possible, you should also try to avoid driving in rainy and stormy conditions if you can. If you must drive in the storm, don’t just think about how you drive. Also ensure that you park in a covered area.
2. Get Some Mud Flaps
If you want to avoid chips in your windshield, you should also consider getting some mud flaps for your vehicle.
The goal of mud flaps is to keep you safe not only from things like rock chips, but also from dust and, of course, mud itself.
The good news?
They also help to keep that same debris from hitting other pedestrians or drivers out on the road with you.
Mud flaps help to give the protection provided by your car’s fender wells a little extra boost. After all, fender walls don’t actually reach all the way behind your tires, so there’s still an opportunity for dust and dirt to act up.
You’ll get another, much needed, layer of protection when you go for mud flaps.
3. Invest in Windshield Chip Protection Film
The final way you can protect your car from getting dinged up on a drive?
Add a rock chip protector film to your windshield’s glass. The film is totally invisible, but will make your windshield much stronger and more resistant to chips and cracks, even if it is hit with a rock.
It’s totally safe to use on your car even if you want to take it into the car wash every week. But you can also easily schedule an appointment to have the film taken off if need be.
Another benefit of a protective layer?
Even if you do end up getting hit, the film will help your glass to stay in place until you’re able to get it fixed. This means that the damage won’t have the chance to get any worse.
What to Do If a Rock Hits Your Windshield
So, despite all the measures of windshield chip protection you’ve taken, rock chips have still ended up hitting your car.
The first thing to remember is that you need to act as quickly as possible.
This is because the chip can grow quickly, so that even a tiny additional impact could completely shatter it. Plus, it also makes it easy for dust and other debris to get lodged in the crack.
This could mean that you’ll have to replace the windshield entirely — which you could have avoided if you’d acted quickly enough.
Check out this website to find reliable professionals from Auto Glass Express who can help you to get your car back out on the road as soon as possible.
But what if you can’t immediately drive to get a crack repaired?
First, cover the crack or chip with clear packing tape to keep out gunk. Avoid washing your car, and make sure that you don’t put any sort of pressure on the area until you can get it fixed.
You Can Prevent Rock Chips from Ruining Your Windshield: What’s Next?
We hope that this post has helped you to understand not only how to stop rock chips from damaging your windshield in the first place, but also what you can do if the inevitable happens.
Of course, we know that rocks and dirt aren’t the only potential hazards that you face while out on the road.
You need to understand how to recognize the potential signs of a problem, understand what error and warnings lights mean, and even know how to do basic maintenance on your car.
We can help.
Be sure that you visit our website to learn more about how to stay safe, no matter where you’re going or the kind of car that you drive.