Does anyone else put their hand on the windscreen when driving through loose chipping

john9876

I now live in the UK and did it yesterday when driving through some loose chippings with a friend from the UK.
He asked me what I was doing and I said I'd always done it as everyone did it when I was a child in Ireland.
He thought I was mad as he'd never heard of it.

Maybe I am mad. Do other people do this or was it some piseog rural people in Ireland had 40 or 50 years ago or does it actually work in somehow absorbing the shock from the stone chipping hitting the windscreen?

EmmetSpiceland

Of course. How else would you stop the windscreen from shattering?

Coillte_Bhoy

Ya i always do it and have often wondered why

KaneToad

My granny used to do this as a passenger. She never drove in her life. It used to drive me cracked (ironically) when she'd leave fingerprints on the windscreen.

Paddygreen

A bit like the Wally’s that hung CDs on their rear view mirrors in a futile attempt to fool radar. It doesn’t work at all.

Oink

I have a dozen tiny cracks on my windshield so maybe I should.

y0ssar1an22

my dad used to do this, and now i do it too. who knows if its works or not, but gives me a certain level of comfort.

dad knows best :P

peasant

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Of course. How else would stop the windscreen from shattering?

The days when windscreens shattered are long since gone.
All windscreens are laminated these days, they crack, not shatter.

But even on safety glass (which windscreens used to be made of and all other car glass still is) applying extra pressure won't stop it shattering if you hit it the wrong way.
Safety glass is under so much tension and so strong you can hit it with the flat side of a hammer and it won't break. But apply the force at a small point (or near the edge) and it just breaks into tiny bits in a fraction of a second...hand on it or not.

It's called safety glass because the tiny bits won't kill you like ordinary window glass shards would.
It's also called toughened glass because...like I said, it's tough as f%ck

.anon.

A smashed windscreen doesn't affect my no-claims-bonus (19 years and counting), so no, I'd prefer to concentrate on the road, rather than on the windscreen. I do remember people doing that years ago though.

Capt'n Midnight

If your car was first registered on or after 1st January 1986 the windscreen is made of laminated glass so you won't need to put the hand up.

gogo

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If your car was first registered on or after 1st January 1986 the windscreen is made of laminated glass so you won't need to put the hand up.

1986!!!! So my whole family have been doing this for 34 years without having too.... 34 years..... How did we miss that friggen memo?

peasant

If you look at toughened glass (the rear screen in this pic) through polarised sunglasses, you can actually see the quench marks on the glass.
The quenching introduces the tension that makes it so tough.

McGinniesta

I prefer to keep them on the steering wheel

Kylta

I actually still do it. But only if a car in travelling towards my on loose chipping. But if its an old wives tale so be it. I can see the amusing side of it

BrianD3

Used to see this all the time but I haven't seen anyone doing for for probably 20+ years.

I think road maintenance has also evolved, I haven't experienced loose chippings flying everywhere on a R or higher category road for years. I think they are still used but compacted immediately and with remaining loose stones hoovered up by specialist machines? Could be all wrong about that though.

2forjoy

I do it all the time from a Murphys Law point of view . Believing if I don't , then the windscreen will surely get hit .

Be right back

I admit I do it only when a car is travelling towards me.

Dravokivich

2forjoy wrote: »

I do it all the time from a Murphys Law point of view . Believing if I don't , then the windscreen will surely get hit .

Murphy's law or not, How can going something inside the car, prevent something outside from happening?

Your Face

All you fancy pricks with windscreens.

Wanderer2010

Nope. I have never done that nor do i know anyone who does it. Usually i curse and hope for the best as i quickly pass through them..

2forjoy

Dravokivich wrote: »

Murphy's law or not, How can going something inside the car, prevent something outside from happening?

Read the thread , your question was already answered . But yea , lots of accidents happening outside the car, are caused by something happening inside the car.

Bobblehats

Sounds kinky.

Atlantic Dawn

I've not seen loose chippings in 20 plus years, no council will allow them on their roads as they will end up with massive claims for damage and death but yes I would when they were there put the hand on the windscreen

EmmetSpiceland

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I've not seen loose chippings in 20 plus years, no council will allow them on their roads as they will end up with massive claims for damage and death but yes I would when they were there put the hand on the windscreen

Literally just drove on a road that had them yesterday. The “stretch” was far too long for my liking.

Should be done in smaller stages because the car in front of my was taking the 25km/ph signs far too seriously. Had to “crawl” along behind them.

Gregor Samsa

My dad used to do it, in our Fiat Ritmo in the 80s. There was more chance of the loose chippings blasting a hole through the shïte Russian steel it was made of than the windscreen. I remember when he was getting rid of it through the infamous scrappage scheme. He reached under the passenger seat to remove a pair of binoculars he used to carry under there, and discovered that the floor of the car under the seat had completely rusted away.

I never do it.

Potential-Monke

I still find myself doing it, with the initial reason being that the hand will take most of the 'shock' from the chipping hitting the windscreen. Always thought it was a bit dodge, but daddy knows best and all that. Should really stop, but like said above, the first time I don't do this, I'll end up with a shattered windscreen because of Murphys Law. Won't be the fault of my not putting my hand up, as it's not going to help either way, but it's like those times I forget to do the lotto and convince myself I would have won it that time if I had done it.

kennypowers

Jesus that brings me back .I remember it being my job as a young fellow in the 70s as a passagnger in my dads car .Did anyone else use a half potato pressed against it or were we just insane ?

ILoveYourVibes

I don't know about the hand thing. But i know heatwaves can make windscreens crack or make cracks grow bigger.

Pawwed Rig

Funnily enough I drove over loose chippings today for the first time in years. I thought they didn't do it any more tbh. Obviously I did not put my hand on the windshield as that wouldn't help at all.

New Home

My neck of the woods has had roadworks in different stretches of road for the past year and a half and counting. It's loose chippings galore, around here. I still do it, I get the impression it disperses some of the energy/vibrations from the impact of the gravel and I hope it'll stop the windscreen from being damaged ay all (let alone crack or shatter altogether).

topper75

I've never seen loose chippings in any other country. Not even Scotland.

Is there any justification for them outside of being cheap? Are they merely a hangover from the days of horrendously constrained council budgets?

You don't see main roads being resurfaced with them. Only minor rural roads.

New Home

They're often used to top the tarmac when the road is resurfaced to make the newly-surfaced road less slippery (at least, that's what I've seen on R roads around here); a steamroller should press them into the tarmac soon after, but more likely than not they're left for days until a road sweeper comes along weeks lster.

pale rider

I'm doing it all the time on any roads with loose chips, driving nearly 40 years, it is a learned habit, think I'll keep it up, it reassures me...

quickbeam

I never even knew this was a "think". Nor did I know the CD was meant as more than a decoration. Learn something new every day.

topper75

topper75 wrote: »

I've never seen loose chippings in any other country. Not even Scotland.

Mostly private roads. We put them down on the farm at home on the road where the public road ends. It's probably only on farms that you'd see losses chippings today.

I asked a question about the history of roads construction and there are some very interesting posts here by a user named Tabbey

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin//showthread.php?t=2058095376

That's something almost unique I like about this site, you can pick any topic and someone will always be able to tell you the specific information you're after