Safe Windshield Replacement

  20/20

Friday February 25, 2000
(This is an unedited, uncorrected transcript.)

BARBARA WALTERS Good evening and welcome to 20/20 Friday. We begin with an investigation that every driver out there should see…because millions of you may be driving around with a potential danger right in front of your eyes. You’ve got your seatbelt fastened…The air bags in place… but they may not be enough to save you in a crash if your car windshield gives way. Arnold Diaz has an imperative report:
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) A car’s windshield does a lot more than keep the rain out. In an accident, your factory-installed windshield can help save your life-deflecting the airbag-and keeping the roof from caving in on you. But if your original windshield has been replaced-you could you be in for trouble because experts say millions have not been installed properly.
ARNOLD DIAZ Wow - it just came right out.
MITCH BECKER Yep. There’s no way I should be able to do that with this car.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) We’ll show you examples of what could be a deadly problem. You’ll also see what happened when we purposely broke our windshield and then called companies to come replace it. According to our experts they made critical mistakes. These installers told us it’s a widespread problem.
INSTALLER Cause there’s actually more guys that do it wrong than guys that do it right.
ARNOLD DIAZ Is that right?
INSTALLER Sadly, yes.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) But as you’ll see-our experts say these same guys are among those who installed the glass the wrong way.
ARNOLD DIAZ Should you wear gloves because it seems like the oils from your hands getting on the edge of the glass. What do you think?
MAN I don’t know.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) It may have happened to you. You get a crack in your windshield and you call a company to replace it. 11 million are replaced every year. Although it’s a complicated job that requires skill and training in the use of primers, adhesives and proper handling, the installers don’t have to be licensed or certified. And experts say installers are making mistakes -mistakes you may never know about—until it’s too late.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) There was a replacement windshield in 25 year old Jeanne Fransway’s car when it ran off this Wisconsin road last year.
CALLER 911 There’s a really bad accident down the road from here. There’s a car smashed up and it looks pretty bad.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Witnessess calling 911 couldn’t find her inside the vehicle.
CALLER 911 I don’t see a passenger, I don’t know where the person is but there’s a shoe in the middle of the road.
OPERATOR Ok.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) They found her body 70 feet away-lying in top of the windshield — which had come out as the car rolled over. Experts believe it wasn’t installed properly. In crash tests like these — you can see the windshield can keep you inside the tumbling car even if you’re unbelted-as Jeanne Fransway was. However—if the glass pops out -as happened in this test — the passengers can be thrown from the car-which greatly increases the chance of death.
The windshield is also an essential part of many airbag systems. The passengers side bag is designed to bounce off of the glass. But now watch this demonstration of what might happen if the windshield hasn’t been properly installed.
MITCH BECKER Three, two, one — (blam!)
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The force of the airbag easily blew out the entire windshield. With that glass gone the airbag can’t cushion you.
CHARLES RHYNE Windshields are a major support fact of vehicles. And nobody tells you this you know.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Four years ago—Charles Rhyne had the cracked windshield on the family’s minivan replaced at a local glass shop. Seven months later — on a rainy California highway — the minivan slid off the road, his wife Tracy behind the wheel.
CHARLES RHYNE We were rolling. And when the vehicle stopped, I couldn’t move.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The replacement windshield had popped out during the rollover allowing the roof to buckle into the passenger compartment— breaking Tracy’s neck.
TRACY RHYNE If that windshield had reinforced like it was supposed to-I would have had at least four to six inches clearance.
ARNOLD DIAZ Do you think about that?
TRACY RHYNE All the time.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) At first this mother of three didn’t want to believe it when doctors told her the accident had left her a quadriplegic.
TRACY RHYNE When I heard it from Charles, I knew for sure that — that it was true. And I wasn’t going to be able to be the same kind of mommy or wife. My life had totally changed in a matter of a day.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The Rhynes sued the company that had installed the replacement windshield and settled for 2 million dollars.
CHARLES RHYNE They forgot to put a secondary primer in the installation of the windshield. So that the hardening material when they put on the windshield — it didn’t harden.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Experts tell us windshields are often improperly replaced because many technicians are either sloppy or haven’t been trained well enough. So we decided to see for ourselves. We had windshields replaced in three different cities.
(Cracking windshield)
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) In New Jersey, these installers had no idea we had a camera in a nearby van — and the customer was glass installation expert Steve Coyle. Coyle said he spotted a few significant mistakes. For one thing, they handled the edges of the windshield with their bare hands.
STEVE COYLE The oils from your fingers will get on the bonding surface, cause the adhesive not to stick there and in case of an accident that would be the first place that would let loose.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) I later questioned the installers about that.
ARNOLD DIAZ And when we were watching, watching it being put in, it was being carried, you know with bare hands with the fingers on the edges.
MAN Actually let me show you.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He said he’s able to carry the glass without his fingers touching the inside edges—and showed me how he does it.
MAN I carry it like that, my hands never touch the inside of the glass.
ARNOLD DIAZ I see. So you, your hands don’t actually curl in and touch.
MAN Don’t even touch. No. But you, you’re raising very good points and that is very important.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) It sure is important say our experts — but as for his special carrying technique — he must have forgot to use it in our case. Take another look at the surveillance pictures. His fingers are clearly touching the inside edges. And so were his partner’s.
I’ve never had a problem with the oils on the glass unless you have a handful of grease or something like that, i could see.
ARNOLD DIAZ But look at your fingers I mean that’s a handful of grease.
MAN That’s from doing this all day. That’s not a handful of grease, trust me.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Whether its grease or dirt our experts say its still a problem. And that’s not all. The technicians are supposed to apply a coat of primer to the edge of the windshield before using this kind of urethane glue. It helps it stick better. But our expert never saw them put on the primer. They insisted they always do.
MAN We do, when we receive the glass or in the morning or you know what i mean, just before we put it in, at some point, we’re priming the area. It depends on the day. We just slammed down 12 jobs.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) They’d been really busy — he said. So busy that perhaps they forgot to prime the glass?
ARNOLD DIAZ When did you put the activator on this piece of glass, do you know?
MAN Uh, just before we put it in, no?
ARNOLD DIAZ Just before you put it in? Okay.
MAN I didn’t prime it. Did you prime it?
PARTNER Yeah.
ARNOLD DIAZ When did you do that?
MAN Just before we put it in.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) But the next day — we had the windshield they put in removed — and the urethane easily came loose. That indicates the primer was probably either never put on or no longer effective, say a number of experts. The company told us safety is very important to them and said their installers are certified and regularly trained. But clearly these guys were having a bad day.
ARNOLD DIAZ Actually, this is a bad example of how this is done because we are working solo all day, every day, honestly? When I have a co-worker or even Dan here, I get out of sync. When I have my own routine and when I’m by myself and I do it, one two three. You know? We have almost no comebacks.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) In Spokane, Washington, this worker from a glass company we called also contaminated the edges with his bare hands. Then the technician wiped the windshield with only a rag, failing to use the cleaning fluid he was supposed to. The company later fired him — but said it was an isolated incident and did not agree that the mistakes posed a safety risk.
In Minneapolis, our expert Steve Coyle — said this installer never warned him it’s not safe to drive the car until the glue dries.
STEVE COYLE He says all I need to do is slap the glue in here and put the window in and you’re ready to go.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The technician had a different story.
ARNOLD DIAZ You told the guy he could drive off.
MAN I never told him he could drive off.
ARNOLD DIAZ You didn’t?
MAN No
ARNOLD DIAZ Well how long should he wait till he drives that car away?
MAN Well it should definitely sit for a while.
ARNOLD DIAZ How long?
MAN It actually probably should sit for a couple of hours?
ARNOLD DIAZ A couple of hours?
MAN Before it’s good and stiff.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He’s wrong. The manufacturer’s directions say the car wouldn’t be safe to drive for about 10 hours. The company said the technician made that mistake because our camera made him nervous. But Mitch Becker, another windshield expert, says based on his experiences— mistakes like the ones we found are not unusual.
MITCH BECKER This is something that I run across commonly.
ARNOLD DIAZ Commonly?
MITCH BECKER Yes. Across the country.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) In fact at this salvage yard outside Minneapolis, Becker easily found evidence of one car after another with windshields improperly replaced.
MITCH BECKER This section of the glass should not pull away.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He says this and many other windshields were put in with a cheap-adhesive called butyltape — a material carmakers say is far to weak to keep the glass secure. That was obvious when Becker pushed out the windshield with his feet.
So people were probably driving around in this car having no idea that this was all that was holding their windshield in place and that it’s not enough.
MITCH BECKER Right. Many people drive around and they don’t realize their life is in danger.
ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) At the automobile factory, most of the windshield installation process is automated — human hands don’t touch the glass until its already glued and in place — and even then — gloves are always used. Contrast that with the way we saw replacement windshields being installed. The potential for life threatening mistakes is obvious, as is the need for training to do the job right.
TRACY RHYNE If they could know what negligence they did has caused my family, to my children, maybe they would be more responsible in their jobs.
BARBARA WALTERS, ABCNEWS Arnold, that is really tragic, what should people do?
ARNOLD DIAZ No matter who you call, make sure they are certified by the National Glass Association.
BARBARA WALTERS Does that guarantee that it will be OK?
ARNOLD DIAZ: No
BARBARA WALTERS How about asking your insurance company?
ARNOLD DIAZ That could be a problem. They could steer you to a place that cuts corners.
BARBARA WALTERS We want to tell you that for more safety tips, visit our website at abcnews.com.

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