Generally, we associate automobile safety with seat belts, air bags, brakes and other things of the sort. Rarely do we think of the windshield as one of the top five car safety parts. But according to CarCare.org, a Web site dedicated to the education of automobile safety, the windshield, by far, is one of the most important parts on your vehicle. And, NOVUS Glass, the windshield repair experts sa
y they agree.
“The windshield keeps you inside your vehicle while driving and it supports the roof while preserving the structural integrity so the roof won’t collapse and crush the driver and passengers. It also supports the passenger side airbag during deployment,” said Keith Beveridge, senior vice president of NOVUS Franchising, Inc. “Because of the safety blanket the windshield provides, it is vital that you make sure any damaged windshield is first repaired and in cases when the windshield can not be repaired that it is replaced properly and safely.”
NOVUS Glass is reputably known as the “Repair First, Replace When Necessary” company and is best known around the world as the inventor of windshield repair. According to Beveridge, there are many reasons why repairing the windshield vs. replacing it is beneficial to consumers. “It is best to save the original factory bond between the windshield and vehicle because once the windshield is removed from the car and the bond is broken, it is less likely to be as safe as the original one,” Beveridge said. According to Beveridge, repairing the windshield saves both the expensive new windshield and the safety bond. The price to repair a windshield is only a fraction of the cost to have it replaced and repairing can take half the time of replacing the windshield.
“NOVUS franchises have repaired over 25 million windshields since 1972,” Beveridge said, adding that their repairs restore the strength and clarity to the glass and prevents the further spread of damage. “We are able to repair about 70 percent of the windshields we inspect. We say that if the damaged area on the windshield can be covered by a credit card, the chances are excellent that it can be repaired.”
A windshield is repaired with an injection of a specially formulated resin into the damaged area. The resin is then cured and polished to restore structural strength and clarity to the glass. If a windshield is replaced improperly, the windshield could become detached from the vehicle in an accident. If that occurs, the passenger side airbag may not deploy properly and if the windshield becomes separated from the vehicle, the occupants if not wearing their seat belts could likely be ejected through the windshield opening. Having your windshield repaired instead of replaced is also environmentally friendly, Beveridge added. “Windshields are, generally, not recycled so having your windshield repaired keeps the glass out of the landfills.” There are nearly 400 NOVUS franchises inNorth Americaand numerous locations worldwide. NOVUS franchises have performed high quality windshield repairs with a customer satisfaction index exceeding 99 percent.
