"As it was in the beginning..."

The Genesis of Modern Auto Glass:
In the beginning, automobiles did not have windshields. Goggles were the only protection from inclement weather, insects and other road debris. The first windshields were hand cut from plate (annealed) glass.

Plate glass shatters into large, dangerously sharp pieces when broken. To avoid this safety hazard, Henry Ford introduced laminated safety glass windshields in the mid-1920s.

Laminated glass consists of two layers of glass sandwiched around a layer of polyvinyl butyrate (PBV). Laminated glass is ideal for windshield use. When damaged, the broken glass adheres to the PVB inner layer instead of showering vehicle occupants with dangerous shards of glass. Also, laminated glass exerts a "cushioning" effect to protect vehicle occupants during collisions.The PVB inner layer absorbs the impact energy and keeps occupants from being ejected through the windshield opening.

Tempered glass, sometimes called "toughened glass", is also considered safety glass. Strengthened through the application of heat and pressure, tempered glass is usually used for vehicle side and back windows. When broken, tempered glass crumbles into rounded glass pebbles. Laminated safety glass can normally be repaired; tempered glass cannot.