What to Do Immediately After Your Windshield Gets Damaged: A Driver's Checklist
You're driving down the highway and out of nowhere, a rock chips your windshield. Or maybe you walk out to your car on a cold morning and find a crack spreading across the glass. It happens to drivers every single day, and what you do in the next few hours matters more than most people realize. Acting fast can be the difference between a simple repair and a full replacement, between a safe drive and a dangerous one. This checklist walks you through exactly what to do, step by step, so you can handle windshield damage the smart way. Step 1: Assess the Damage Safely Before you do anything else, pull over safely if the damage occurred while driving. Do not panic, but do take it seriously. Look at the damage carefully and ask yourself: Is your visibility compromised? Even a small crack in your line of sight is a legal and safety hazard. How long is the crack? Chips smaller than a loonie and cracks shorter than six inches are typically repairable. Larger damage usually means replac...