Here's how the laminated front windshield and tempered side windows help to protect you from injury.

When glass is broken, it can large sharp pieces that can harm surrounding people. Automotive glass is specifically designed to fail with a certain characteristic, depending on its application. This characteristic is determined by its manufacturing process.

The front windshield on all modern vehicles are laminated. That means there are two thin layers of glass with a poly laminate layer in between. The glass sandwiches this layer, making it completely transparent.

The laminate is flexible and sticky, and holds the pieces of glass together if it is broken. The windshield layers are not tempered, therefore break into large pieces. However because they're being held together by the laminate layer, they cannot penetrate the cabin and harm any passengers. This also prevents other objects from penetrating the cabin directly while driving straight ahead.

Side windows on most modern vehicles are made of tempered glass. The glass is heat treated and then cooled. This adds lots of strength to the glass. Its most sought after characteristic as a safety glass is when it breaks, it breaks into very small tiny harmless pieces that do not have large sharp ends. Therefore this glass presents minimal risk to occupants in the vehicle.

Some luxury vehicles have side windows that are made of tempered-laminated glass. Two tempered sheets of glass sandwich a laminate layer, providing addition protection against penetration, the strength of tempering, and additional sound proofing.

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