Window Exploded while driving

[redart]

I was driving on the Whitemud freeway, (80km/h) and then suddenly my passenger-side window exploded. The sound was like a big bang and the glass shattered into a million pieces, spilling into the seat and flying everywhere. I was shocked to the bone, good thing I kept driving instead of swerving into other lanes on the freeway. Also good thing nobody was sitting in the passenger seat, otherwise they would've gotten cut or injured. Another good thing is that even though the shards were flying, I didn't get cut or anything.

I was driving in the right lane, and the lane to the right of me was a lane that would circularly descend to an underpass. Only a small truck was going down that circular descend while I went straight. So I have a question, what could have caused this? There's no traces of a rock impacting the glass, and I'm sure that say a BB gun couldn't aim like that, but what do you think could have happened?

Thanks..

[DC2]

wow, gald to see no one got hurt. was there any abnormal tension on the glass?

[Lo)2enz0]

i knew a guy who's rear windshield blew out on him, but i think that was because of his subs

[redart]

no tension on the passenger window at all, no music was blaring either. in all my years of driving, i've never had this happen, nor have i heard of this happening.
could it be that it was bad quality glass? it's a new 2005 civic.

[dericer]

Pellet gun, or maybe a rock?

[bonnieclyde240]

I read yesterdays herald about a woman who was driving and a pellet from a gun shot thru her passenger side window and it shattered. Usually her hubby sits in passenger, but good thing he wasn't there cuz the pellet would've hit his noggin. She pulls over and some dude in another car got hit too. Just a heads up for everyone to watch for these punks who think their gangster by popping pellets into peoples windows :thumbsdow

[Shoebox//Racer]

had this happen to our chrysler van over 10 years ago. dunno what happened then either...

was the window open partially? or closed all the way? on the van it was closed but i remember i could always hear it rattle on the highway.

[jjjheimer]

Sure sounds like you got hit by some sort of projectile. Where exactly were you on the whitemud?

[AJL]

maybe it was faulty glass?

[redart]

i was driving southbound on the whitemud near 149 st, the window was closed all the way.

thanks bonnieclyde240 for mentioning that story in the herald, i just wouldn't believe that someone might actually do such a thing, but i found several articles online with people having exact experiences to mine.

so apparently there really are people who use pellet/real guns to shoot at vehicles.

[WWJAI]

that is damn wierd...i've never heard of such a thing where you just drive and all of a sudden your window decides it wants to give up on you and explode/shatter

[Clanche]

i wonder if they are shooting from cars or stationed on a hill somewhere..

[89coupe]

You won't get cut from safety glass, hense the name. Also, a Pellet or BB gun would not penetrate the glass. It may cause it to shatter, but it wouldn't pass through it.

More then likely it was just a rock spit up by another vehicle that caused it to blow out.

[jcrules99]

wow, that would be scary... waste of money too

[Clanche]

Originally posted by 89coupe
You won't get cut from safety glass, hense the name. Also, a Pellet or BB gun would not penetrate the glass. It may cause it to shatter, but it wouldn't pass through it.

More then likely it was just a rock spit up by another vehicle that caused it to blow out.

my pellet gun will go through 2mm sheet metal... and it only goes 480feet/s.. the rifle airpump ones can go 1000+/feet/sec... i think it could go through..

[Shoebox//Racer]

Originally posted by 89coupe
You won't get cut from safety glass, hense the name. Also, a Pellet or BB gun would not penetrate the glass. It may cause it to shatter, but it wouldn't pass through it.

More then likely it was just a rock spit up by another vehicle that caused it to blow out.

Rock chips are unlikely since it was the side windows that went. not that this is any help though...

[joyridder]

:eek: that is a scary thing to think about, glad your ok and no one was in your passenger seat at the time...strange~!

[89coupe]

Originally posted by Shoebox//Racer


Rock chips are unlikely since it was the side windows that went. not that this is any help though...

Why is it unlikely?

Happens all the time.

I can't recall how many times I've nailed garage doors and sometimes even houses with rocks that have fired out the side of my tire after catching a rock on the edge.

[syeve]

I bet Chuck Norris was near by

[Clanche]

Originally posted by 89coupe


Why is it unlikely?

Happens all the time.

I can't recall how many times I've nailed garage doors and sometimes even houses with rocks that have fired out the side of my tire after catching a rock on the edge.

are you sure it wasnt bolts flying out of your mustang? :rofl: :rofl: jk i actually those mustangs :bigpimp:


Originally posted by syeve
I bet Chuck Norris was near by

just be lucky not to be dead man

[Fosgate R]

Originally posted by Clanche


my pellet gun will go through 2mm sheet metal... and it only goes 480feet/s.. the rifle airpump ones can go 1000+/feet/sec... i think it could go through..

:werd: My uncles easily went through a picture window at my cabin, and into the couch next to it. :D

[Vagabond142]

I have done some stunt prep for movies here in and around calgary, and one of the tricks we use when someone has to jump through glass is to "scar" the glass in a straight line across the bottom, with an impactor to shatter the glass (which is safety glass or sugar glass) hidden in the set near the scar line.

If your window had a significant crack or even hairline fracture, it was cold out, AND an impactor (such as a hard bump over a pothole or a high speed rock), shattering a bit of car glass is as easy as sneezing. You just need favorable conditions for it.

Tip to all: check your glass for cracks and fractures.

[Clanche]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
I have done some stunt prep for movies here in and around calgary, and one of the tricks we use when someone has to jump through glass is to "scar" the glass in a straight line across the bottom, with an impactor to shatter the glass (which is safety glass or sugar glass) hidden in the set near the scar line.

If your window had a significant crack or even hairline fracture, it was cold out, AND an impactor (such as a hard bump over a pothole or a high speed rock), shattering a bit of car glass is as easy as sneezing. You just need favorable conditions for it.

Tip to all: check your glass for cracks and fractures.

you seem to know a little too much about this... suspicious... maybe its YOU doing all those incidents with cars lately... :eek:

[vtec4life]

usually when that happens it is a rock that does it, the car driving by may have shot one out at your window, i used to work at a dealership and people would come in once in a while where that was the case. not to say theres no punk kids running around shooting bb's at people, that happened to me too outside STAPLES in the southeast

[89coupe]

Originally posted by Fosgate R


:werd: My uncles easily went through a picture window at my cabin, and into the couch next to it. :D

A cabin single pane window and tempered saftey glass are completely different. I gaurantee you, your uncles pellet gun would not penetrate a car window.

Tempered glass is 10 times stronger then regular glass.

[fendercontender]

had this happen several years ago, drivers side exploded in a then new dakota. was crazy. sumthin to do with airstreams and heat and expansion and who knows, i dont know really how it happens.

[adidas]

Does your honda have a sunroof? Im not too fond with asian cars.

If it does and you closed it and then the glass shattered then it might have been caused to the pressure in the cabin of the car that made it explode.

[Fosgate R]

Originally posted by 89coupe


A cabin single pane window and tempered saftey glass are completely different. I gaurantee you, your uncles pellet gun would not penetrate a car window.

Tempered glass is 10 times stronger then regular glass.

Still....it is only an 800FPS pellet gun and it went through 3/4" thick picture window.....IMO I think it would.:poosie:

LOL....We should do a Beyond Mythbusters and find out....hehe

[Civicguy]

was it windy??? a buddy worked at a auto glass shop and after a big ass wind storm down here about a dozen vechiles windows blew out both rear and side cauze of the pressure in the cab and outside

[frostyda9]

I'd say Vagabond's theory is probably what happened. I remember there was a thread about this some time ago (over a year) and quite a few people has stories about windows blowing out with no clear explanation.

Did you hit a bump in the road when it happened by chance?

[GQBalla]

i remember my dads old station wagon the rear window blew out when he turned on the defroster one time.

[dericer]

Originally posted by 89coupe


A cabin single pane window and tempered saftey glass are completely different. I gaurantee you, your uncles pellet gun would not penetrate a car window.

Tempered glass is 10 times stronger then regular glass.

My uncle used to have junk cars on his acreage. I used to use my 495ft/s CO2 pellet gun and shoot out the windows.

The pellet would only penetrate at around 5 feet if I used the semi auto and fired about 12 rounds into the glass, and even then it barely cracked it.

But a brass BB would go through the glass upto 30 feet away, and it cracked the hell out of the glass. Combine that with wind, and road vibration. I bet it could shatter a tempered window.

A sling shot is scary what it'll do aswell. We got oversized BB's to penetrate fenders.

Just my .02

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by Fosgate R


Still....it is only an 800FPS pellet gun and it went through 3/4" thick picture window.....IMO I think it would.:poosie:

LOL....We should do a Beyond Mythbusters and find out....hehe

Most residential windows are 3mm, or maybe 4mm glass. When the wind blows, you can see it warping. Automotive windows are closer to 5 or 6mm tempered glass which is 10times stronger. That being said, any sharp object that hits tempered glass at just the right angle or point, can shatter it.

[redart]

my civic does not have a sunroof, and it's brand new - i just got the car in november from the dealership! just surprising/inconvenient that it happened.

it wasn't windy, actually it was rather nice out, about 2 degrees, I was just driving normally as usual as I do on the Whitemud everyday. I didn't hit a bump, but who knows what the scenario would be, a huge rock from the side or a pellet gun or expansion what not..

[gp36912]

did you have your heater turned on?

[Vagabond142]

Frosty: It's not "my theory" :nut: It's just one of the standard movie stunt/prop things. Look for an old show called "movie magic" and you'll get to see a whole smacking of cool stuff about how movie stunts and props are done, from firepulls (haven't done any of those, but want to) to stunt driving to how a zombie rips someone open onscreen :)

And no, I'm not blowing up windows all over Alberta... I have midterms to worry about :\

I would say it's probably a combination of all the suggestions in this thread. Plane of weakness + differential pressure (why it's a good idea to open the window a bit when driving through the mountains) +thermodynamics + impact force = BOOM! Pretty large requirements list, but probably happens a lot without an explosion

[dericer]

What about there being an imperfection in the window frame, or a foreign object?

Run your finger inside the window trim on the door. Maybe a flaw in the metal door, or debris?

Vibration + finite point of contact could = breaking?

:dunno: