While all motorists want to keep their car in pristine condition, some accidents prove unavoidable such as a crack in your windscreen. Cracked windscreens are pretty common and for that reason, some people may overlook them as a minor issue that can get fixed weeks down the road. In truth, a crack in your windscreen should be treated as an auto emergency since this type of damage not only puts you at risk of an accident, but also poses a threat to other motorists and pedestrians. Therefore, once you notice a crack in your windscreen, the first thing that you should stop doing is driving your vehicle. If you cannot get to the mechanic immediately, there are several things that you should avoid with your cracked windscreen, as illuminated below.

Do not apply defroster to your windscreen

If the crack occurred during the winter, you may be thinking that defrosting the windscreen is par for the course. However, you are putting your vehicle at grave danger of a completely broken windscreen since the defroster has the capacity of worsening the crack or compromising the entire windscreen. Since you are not supposed to be driving, you do not need to defrost the windscreen in the first place. But if it is critical to do so, only use your car's heater on low rather than using a defroster on cracked windscreen.

Do not take your vehicle to the car wash

If your windscreen cracked when your car was incredibly filthy, perhaps from a bush drive, you probably want to clean up the vehicle before you see your mechanic. However, you should definitely not do this. When your vehicle goes through a car wash, it is exposed to pressurised water, which hits the car with great force. If the crack has jeopardised the structural integrity of the windscreen, one pressurised spray directly on the glass cab break it. And this will subsequently injure you. Rather than clean up the windscreen, leave it to the mechanic who may even decide that you need brand new auto glass altogether!

Do not shake or bump your vehicle

One thing that some motorists may take for granted is how jolting their car could cause extensive damage to the cracked windscreen. Whether the crack is minor or extensive, sudden jolts to the car due to actions such as slamming the vehicle can cause the windscreen to become completely compromised. In fact, if you notice the crack when you are on the road, be sure to drive home carefully and not slam the brakes or do anything else that could result in complete windscreen replacement.