Imploding Driver's Window

[shark]

Austin a few weeks ago:

Police: Man, 48, pelted vehicles with pellet gun
Author: Claire Osborn AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Date: April 18, 2009 Publication: Austin American-Statesman (TX) Page Number: B01 ${ Word Count: 171

A man was arrested Friday, accused of firing a pellet gun at drivers in Southwest Austin and hitting at least 16 cars since late 2007, Austin police said. Darren Inberg, 48, has been charged with deadly conduct. Detective Adam Masters said Inberg shot from the south side of Southwest Parkway, aiming at westbound motorists in the 5900 block between 1 and 3 a.m. The window of a patrol car of a Bee Cave police officer was hit in November, and the officer suffered an eye injury and cuts

[jetfuel]

...what was the outside air temperature, was the window all the way up or half way, was the car kept in a garage all night, was the A/C on, what kind of music was playing on the radio, where the heck are you at, was your companion in a position that could have bumped the glass with the top of their head....too many variables..

jetfuel

[fpage77]

Originally Posted by jetfuel

... was your companion in a position that could have bumped the glass with the top of their head....

With the way this car rides rough I wouldn't be surprised if it was his head that hit the passenger side window from being bounced around inside the car.

[Ozzie]

A small sliver of ceramic hitting any tempered glass will shatter it in a million pieces, add the wind buffetting and your covered with glass. In south florida many many years ago thieves were fond of taking a hammer to a spark plug, grab a small piece of the broken ceramic and just throw it at a car's window, the window shatters and you can just peel back the window if it has tint to hold it together.
this method was made popular by all the Garfield thefts... Seems the orange stuffed Garfield cat with the suction cups that many folks attached to the inside of their cars were in high demand. Such high demand, it was on the news several times warning folks of the dangers of having those because of how many car windows were being broken for them.. WOW, how long winded.. Could have been a small piece of something on the road, or as mentioned above, Someone playing with a Pellet gun or BB gun. Ask the local Highway patrol if any other similar breaks have occured on that strip of road.

[Agent 99]

Originally Posted by fpage77

I'm going to have to watch my side windows at all times while driving now.

That would make for an interesting commute.

[jefferios]

What was the estimate to replace this glass?

[danyaal]

Hello, I have had a smart car since late 2008 but never felt the need to join any forums about it until this past week. I live in Southern California, Orange County, to be more precise, and the drier side window on my smart car exploded in the middle of the night while it was parked on the street.
Since I live on a cul de sac, higher up on the hill and a very safe neighborhood, I am sure no one was tempering with the glass. Most probably, it was the heat built up during the day since it was one of those days when we recorded new highs in 75 years (4:15AM on Sept 8th, 2011). The windows may have been rolled all the way up and sound vibrations around the area contributed to the explosion.
I have reported this to the smart car people but they say this isn't a known issue so will be getting it replaced out of my own pocket.

[JPaul]

May have been a projectile, a stray bullet or a tiny meteorite?

[SmartDigger]

My bet is a piece of that satellite T-boned your window.... Not even safe to drive your car with all that space junk flying around

[orngandblack]

Originally Posted by danyaal

Hello, I have had a smart car since late 2008 but never felt the need to join any forums about it until this past week. I live in Southern California, Orange County, to be more precise, and the drier side window on my smart car exploded in the middle of the night while it was parked on the street.
Since I live on a cul de sac, higher up on the hill and a very safe neighborhood, I am sure no one was tempering with the glass. Most probably, it was the heat built up during the day since it was one of those days when we recorded new highs in 75 years (4:15AM on Sept 8th, 2011). The windows may have been rolled all the way up and sound vibrations around the area contributed to the explosion.
I have reported this to the smart car people but they say this isn't a known issue so will be getting it replaced out of my own pocket.

There could have been what is called a seed, or bubble in the glass. even the most tiniest seed can at any time make the glass explode. i have seen many a piece of glass blow up with nobody within 10 feet of it. Although it would be a little unusual for the glass to break like that almost 4 years after it was made but not impossible either.