The need for automotive glass surface protection

Stephen Byers, Ritec International Limited

Trends in automotive vehicle design, including panoramic windscreens and glass roofs, show ever-increasing areas of glass in use. There are corresponding increases in requirements for automotive glass surface protection, partly based on aesthetics - to help maintain a vehicle’s show-room appearance. Of greater importance, however, is a need to improve road safety through better all-around visibility.

As you drive along the street or highway, there are many threats to the safety of yourself, passengers, other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. One of the biggest threats, traffic film “gunge”, is silent and normally invisible but its effects are life-threatening.

Think for a moment about your blurred vision when driving in wet weather, placing yourself, other persons and property at risk. For example, when overtaking a truck you are momentarily blinded by road spray hitting the windscreen. When approaching a road crossing you have difficulty seeing through side windows and, when reversing you have restricted visibility through the rear screen.

These cases of blurred vision, momentary blindness and restricted visibility are largely caused by a “gungy”, smeary mess of traffic film and water on the windscreen, side windows and rear window. Traffic film is oily - a “cocktail” of oily deposits from road film mixed with other urban and industrial pollution. Since oil and water by themselves do not mix, rainfall or snowfall hitting glass covered by road film causes an oily mess – traffic film ‘gunge’ - that causes smearing and interferes with visibility.

Of course heavy rainfall can cause difficulties, but notice how even the lightest rainfall or drizzle can cause traffic to slow down to a crawl. Mist or drizzle is enough to cause problems with driving visibility because traffic film gunge is very tenacious, sticking very firmly to glass and becoming difficult to remove.

In the UK, sections 201 to 212 of the Highway Code, ‘Driving in Adverse Weather Conditions’, states that before setting off “you MUST be able to see, so clear all snow and ice from all your windows”. The Highway Code recommends to “make sure your windscreen is completely clear”. The solution is clearer vision - better all-around visibility through windscreen, side windows and rear screens to improve visibility, safety and driving comfort.

This paper describes how this valuable solution can be achieved through protection against glass surface corrosion and the Hidden Menaces, the main reasons that automotive glass becomes high in maintenance and low in visibility, and how glass can be made “non-stick”, low-maintenance and high-visibility instead.

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The Authors

Mr. Stephen Byers Managing Director Ritec International Limited Stephen Byers is co-founder of Ritec International Limited and winner of awards and other recognition for innovation in the development of new technologies for surface renovation, protection and maint... Read more