Steps To Deal With Broken Auto Glass
- First, ensure the safety of your passengers and yourself.
- Report to the authorities if you suspect vandalism or break-in, or if an accident has occurred.
- Contact A To Z Glass for a free estimate. We can provide a rough cost and schedule your auto glass replacement.
- In the meantime, carefully remove any broken glass from the seats and/or floorboards. This should be done before driving your car. If you are not near a vacuum, a towel or piece of cardboard will reduce the chance of suffering any cuts.
- If you can park your car until its windshield replacement, drive it to a safe location and we will take it from there.
Other Considerations
- If you decide to use a vacuum cleaner to remove the rest of the broken auto glass from the interior, do not use your home vacuum cleaner. Instead, use a shop-vac or better yet, go to a car wash or gas station and use their vacuums. These are industrial machines that are far more powerful and do a much better job removing every last piece.
- If your car will be exposed to the weather, protect it from the elements. A protective weather shield can be made by cutting plastic sheeting (available in the paint section of hardware stores) or a heavy duty trash bag – often referred to as a contractor clean up bag – to a size & shape that will roughly fit your window opening. DO NOT use duct tape to attach it to your car though. Duct tape will likely damage your car or truck’s paint. Instead, use masking tape or blue painters tape and attach the tape to the rubber trim or seals as best possible.
- A better (yet more expensive) solution would be to cover your car with a tarp, car cover, or other large waterproof sheet. Secure the tarp with rope, bungee cords, ratchet straps or some similar method.
- If you do decide to use a temporary plastic weather shield, DO NOT drive your car. Your vision will be obscured or blocked altogether making it unsafe to take on the road.