Components That Make Cars And Motorcycles Safe For Drivers

In both automobiles and motorcycles, components that ensure the safety of the drivers and passengers are always incorporated in the design. This article will discuss the role that windows or windshields in cars and fairings in motorcycles play in the safety of the people who drive and ride these vehicles. So the next time you visit Campsie auto glass for windscreen replacement or your local motorcycle shop for a repair or maintenance job, you will have an idea about one of the most crucial safety components in your riding or driving experience—the windshield in automobiles and fairings in motorcycles.

Motorcycle Fairing

A motorcycle fairing is the shell shaped glass or composite plastic panel that is placed over the front frame of motorcycles usually those use in motocross and racing have dual purpose. The first one is to reduce air drag; thus, giving the motorcycle better aerodynamics, better fuel economy, relatively more powerful engine performance, and more importantly, increased speed.  The second purpose is for the safety and protection of the rider from possible risks like airborne hazards, wind-induced hypothermia and engine components in the event of accident. Fairings can be found in both the front and back of motorcycles and one of their integral components is the windshield.

A motorcycle’s windshield is made either from a polycarbonate (Lexan) or acrylic (Plexiglas) material. The Polycarbonate material is known as an extremely strong plastic and about as transparent as glass. However, there is a big disadvantage in using a Polycarbonate windshield given the fact that the material picks up water from the air making the windshield cloudy.

Acrylic windshields meanwhile are only about 3% as impact resistant as the polycarbonate one and they shatter upon impact. This quality makes them unsafe to use for windshields. However acrylics are very chemically resistant and more transparent than glass.

Car Windshields

 

Windshield glass in cars meanwhile is specifically designed to ensure the safety of the people inside the vehicle in case of strong impacts during accidents. Long before the use of laminated or tempered glass as windshield material, car used regular glass, which could shatter into dangerous sharp pieces that could cut and seriously injured the driver or passengers of the car.

Innovation in technology brought about laminated glass windshields, which are particularly designed not to shatter during accidents. These are formed by fusing together two glasses with the use of polyvinyl (PVB) plastic. The result is a glass that breaks and cracks and not shatters completely.

Another process to ensure that car windshield will not cause injuries during accidents is tempered method. The process employed in this technology is the rapid heating and cooling methods. The result would be the shattering of the glass into tiny pebble like pieces during impact. However these tiny pieces are not sharp thus eliminating the risk of passengers being cut by the shattered pieces.

Source: http://www.emotocrossblog.com/components-that-make-cars-and-motorcycles-safe-for-drivers/

Clement Desalle John DeSoto Tony DiStefano Jamie Dobb Gert van Doorn