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Broken Car Window Repair
By gguild | October 22, 2007
Broken Car Window: A Bad Way to End a Day
You are about to become a victim of a broken car window.
The last thing on your mind is a broken car window. It’s been a long day. Work presented a lot of challenges, frustrations and stress. Working through lunch didn’t help either. Imagine you reach your car, drop all your stuff in the seat next to you–your building keys, laptop, badge, sweater and whatever else. You decide to stop for a sandwich on the way home since you are really not up to fixing anything. You park a few doors from your favorite sandwich shop, go in and begin to relax with a sandwich, drink and a magazine. Less than an hour later, you walk out to the car a little bit refreshed, but as you walk you see your car and start feeling sick. There by the side of your car is a pile of little bits of glass, fallen from the broken car window of your passenger door. The seat where all you stuff was sitting is empty.
You have just become a victim of smash and grab. Smash and grab causes more emotional stress than one can imagine, but the intrusion into your personal life and security can extend far beyond the loss just suffered and there are things you can do to prevent it from happening to you.
The Emotional Impact of Smash and Grab Is Just The Beginning
The cascade of emotions that arises from the smash and grab incident runs deep. The anger at the damage mixes with the feelings of violation from personal items being taken by a stranger. Your broken car window feels personal. It became personal when your property–your car–was attacked. If nothing had been taken, it would still feel personal just because of the damage done to your glass by a total stranger. Stories abound at auto glass companies of drivers watching the last of the repairs to replace the glass will stand and stare at the car and cry. Somewhat surprisingly, car window repair companies are used to seeing these emotional scenes.
More Problems and More Expense Quickly Follow the Emotional Upheaval
That’s not necessarily the worst of a broken car window though. Some insurance companies see the glass damage and/or the property loss as a result of negligence—the owner’s fault. You could get stuck with the entire bill. Additionally, the damage is not just personal and emotional. Although the feelings of violations won’t run out for a long time, if the loss included a stolen laptop, PDA, MP3 player or other item that could contain personalized information, the damage can become long-lasting and expensive. Not only have possessions been stolen but also so has at least part of a person’s identity.
Even MORE?
Now that the crisis seems to be over, the glass and damage cleaned up, the broken car window replaced, and replacements for the stolen items purchased, it seems that a person should be able to get back to a normal life. Now imagine that you stop by your bank to pick up some cash at the ATM. Since you can’t find your debit card right away (hum!), you use your charge card to take a cash advance. The ATM rejects your request for $200, which is odd, because you know you have credit available on your card. You check with your card company and you find out that there have been a number of charges on your card and you are at your limit. But how can that be? You still have your card.
As it turns out, the laptop or PDA you lost was more than just a laptop or PDA. It was critical personal information, too. In it were files you keep on your personal inventory (in case your house is robbed), references to your charge cards (in case you lost one), PIN numbers (since you shouldn’t keep those in your wallet), your copies of your tax returns which your accountant sent to you in PDF format (more convenient that making paper files and storing them). It is almost impossible to comprehend the loss brought about by the stolen computer. It is also almost impossible to comprehend how long this ordeal could go on. Why would a thief do such a thing? Well, there are two main reasons:
1. Because it was there
2. Because he can
Do What You Can to Prevent a Smash and Grab Attack on YOU
Oh, if only a person could only have back that moment when a different decision could be made. Even though the time for that decision is gone, anyone can take action to prepare for that moment in the future. Here are a few things a person can do to guard against it ever happening again. No single action offers a full deterrent.
- Oddly enough, window tint can help. Not only does it help to hide items from temptation but it adds another barrier to the glass that takes time for the thief. Depending on local laws about how dense tinting can be, window tinting can make items more difficult to see or hide them from view altogether while making the window a little bit stronger.
- Even with window tinting, no one should leave any (apparent) valuables in open sight. Caution should be exercised with any item. An empty file folder can look very much like a laptop in a case. Even though a laptop was not there to be stolen, a broken car window could still result.
- When moving valuables from the car to the trunk to keep them from sight, it would be unwise to do that after parking. The car could be already under someone’s view.
- If you have a garage, use it. As with most of us, the car and the valuables in it is probably a lot more valuable than the junk most of us have piled in our garages.
- If you have had a stereo radio stolen, replace it with a removable or “theft-proof” one.
- If a smash and grab incident happened near home, letting the neighbors know of the incident puts more eyes on the street and reduces the chance of a reoccurrence.
Being aware of the possibilities and taking a few thoughtful steps to prevent them can protect you from the mental trauma, the violation of personal property, and the loss of vital personal statistics. When leaving a car unattended, make it a habit to leave all the seats and visible areas inside the car empty.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:03 am
This is very informative I think it will be great for our customers.
December 1st, 2007 at 3:40 pm
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported in 1998 more than 1,240,000 vehicle thefts occurred in the United States or about one car every 22 seconds at a total cost of approximately $7.5 billion. Now with an increasing amount of vehicle manufaturers utilizing a new category of laminated glass, designed specifically for use in vehicle side and rear windows. (EPG) Enhanced Protective Glass made with polyvinyl butyral PVB) this new category of laminated glass deters vehicle theft along with smash-and-grab crimes by increasing the level of difficulty and the time it takes to break through the vehicle window. While the glass will crack after repeated impacts, it remains adhered to the tough plastic interlayer, providing an effective barrier against smash-and-grab thieves. Window tinting still remains an effective way of decreasing the odds of being a Smash and Grab victum by making it difficult to see anything that a criminal may find alluring. But the best deterent is being aware of certain things that you do that can potentialy increase your odds of being a victum.