WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT SAFETY

ABC 20/20 (February 25, 2000) Has Concerns

ABC’s 20/20 news magazine has concluded unsafe windshield installations can cause unnecessary deaths and catastrophic personal injuries.

Windshield is an outdated, misleading term. While accelerators still accelerate - brakes still brake - and headlamps still illuminate - windshields have evolved from passive weather barriers to indispensable components in the structural integrity and safety of a vehicle’s passenger compartment.

20/20 correctly reports that the modern windshield prevents passenger ejection in crashes and roof collapse in roll-overs. Any other function of the windshield is secondary. The fact is…If the windshield separates from the vehicle passenger lives are immediately at risk.

35 million crashes and $9 billion in annual repairs cause insurance companies to seek creative ways to reduce costs. Windshields, seat belts and airbags are inappropriate cost-cutting targets. Each is an integral part of the vehicle’s engineered system for structural integrity and passenger ejection mitigation. If one fails, vehicle occupants are at risk.

Safety experts agree with 20/20. Optimum consumer safety is achieved when the factory’s original windshield installation is preserved. Two conclusions are unavoidable:

1.) Damaged windshields that can be repaired must be repaired to preserve the OEM windshield and the factory safety seal;

2.) Windshields damaged beyond repair must be replaced using materials and techniques which approximate factory conditions as closely as possible.

Barbara Walters was clearly unprepared when 20/20’s Arnold Diaz warned against consumers relying on their insurance agents to locate a safe, professional auto glass installer. “That could be a problem because sometimes they steer you to a place that does it cheap and that means they could be cutting corners,” said Diaz

Clearly, it is time to re-assess priorities. Once, agents were authorized to use their personal knowledge of local auto glass shops to refer customers to a choice of several reliable, professional glass installers. They should be encouraged to do so again.

As part of a vehicle’s engineered safety envelope, the selection of a windshield installer can be a decision involving life or death consequences. Auto glass networks cannot provide the first hand knowledge of auto glass installers that agents can supply. By isolating the insured from the agent’s expertise, that insured must make a decision he or she is totally unqualified to make.

Similarly, customer safety dictates that responsible auto glass companies must decline to work for customers who set equipment, material or pricing conditions which can only be met by cutting corners and sacrificing safety.

NOVUS is the industry’s first and foremost “Repair First, Replace When Necessary” company. Windshields which can be safely and effectively repaired will be repaired by our factory-trained technicians. If replacement is necessary, OEM-quality glass will be installed according to the specifications of OEM-approved adhesive manufacturers. And, customers will be fully briefed on when the vehicle can be returned to service and under what conditions.

At NOVUS, safety is and will remain the prime directive.