Shattered windscreen is not unique (From York Press)

Shattered windscreen is not unique

12:08pm Saturday 11th August 2012 in Letters By Reader's letter

YOUR story regarding taxi driver Bose Thomas and his shattered windscreen (The Press, August 9) brought back memories of a similar incident I experienced in Saudi Arabia.

I had a Toyota Cressida which was normally parked in a carport and came out one morning to find the rear screen completely shattered.

Thinking the damage was the work of vandals or thieves, I immediately called the local police. On arrival they advised they had many cases of shattered screens in this type of car and advised me to take it to the local agent who promptly replaced the screen free of charge.

The agent confirmed the heat from early morning sun was capable of heating up the screen, causing it to expand and because of the rigidity of the window fixtures, eventually shatter.

So to me the shattering of the windscreen by the car heating sounds quite plausible, despite the manufacturers claim.

There are obviously some super detectives in the car industry’s local dealerships if they can spot a stone chip in the midst of the shattered remains of the screen.

Henry L Harris, Burton Stone Lane, York.