2-18-2000 20/20 Article on Auto Glass Replacment "Shielding More Than The Wind" Prepared by Burrelle’s Information Services, which takes sole responsibility for accuracy of transcription. Transcription is between BARBARA WALTERS and ARNOLD DIAZ. BARBARA WALTERS, ABCNEWS Good evening. And welcome to 20/20 FRIDAY. We begin with an investigation that every driver should see, because millions of you may be driving around with a potential danger right in front of your eyes. You’ve got your seat belt fastened, the air bags in place. But they may not be enough to save you in a crash if your car windshield gives way. Arnold Diaz has an urgent report and frightening crash test footage that should serve as a pointed warning. ARNOLD DIAZ, ABCNEWS (VO) A car’s windshield does a lot more than keep the rain out. In an accident, your factory-installed windshield can help save your life, deflecting the air bag and keeping the roof from caving in on you. But if your original windshield has been replaced, you could be in for trouble, because experts say millions have not been installed properly. Wow, that’s coming right out. MITCH BECKER Yep. There’s no way I should be able to do that with this car. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) We’ll show you examples of what could be a deadly problem. You’ll also see what happened when we purposely broke our windshield and then called companies to come replace it. According to our experts, they made critical mistakes. These installers told us it’s a widespread problem. 1ST MAN Because there’s actually more guys that do it wrong than guys that do it right. ARNOLD DIAZ Is that right? 1ST MAN Sadly, yes. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) But as you’ll see, our experts say these same guys are among those who installed the glass the wrong way. Should you wear gloves, because it seems like the oils from your hands getting on the edge of the glass. What do you think? 1ST MAN I don’t know. ARNOLD DIAZ It may have happened to you. You get a crack in your windshield, and you call a company to replace it. Eleven million are replaced every year. Although it’s a complicated job that requires skill and training in the use of primers, adhesives and proper handling, installers don’t have to be licensed or certified. And experts say installers are making mistakes, mistakes you may never know about, until it’s too late. (VO) There was a replacement windshield in 25-year-old Jeanne Fransway’s (ph) car when it ran off this Wisconsin road last year. 1ST WOMAN (From phone call) There’s a really bad accident down the road from here. There’s a car smashed up, and it looks pretty bad. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Witnesses calling 911 couldn’t find her inside the vehicle. 1ST WOMAN (From phone call) I don’t see a passenger. I don’t know where the person is but there’s a shoe in the middle of the road. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) They found her body 70 feet away, lying on top of the windshield, which had come out as the car rolled over. Experts believe it wasn’t installed properly. In crash tests like these, you see the windshield can keep you inside the tumbling car, even if you’re in seat belts, as Jeanne Fransway was. However, if the glass pops out, as happened in this test, the passengers can be thrown from the car, which greatly increases the chance of death. The windshield is also an essential part of many air bag systems. The passenger side bag is designed to bounce off of the glass. But now watch this demonstration of what might happen if the windshield hasn’t been properly installed. MITCH BECKER Three, two, one. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The force of the air bag easily blew out the entire windshield. With that glass gone, the air bag can’t cushion you. CHARLES RHYNE Windshields are a major support factor of vehicles. And nobody tells you this, you know. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Four years ago, Charles Rhyne had the cracked windshield on the family’s minivan replaced at a local glass shop. Seven months later, on a rainy California highway, the minivan slid off the road, his wife Tracey behind the wheel. TRACEY RHYNE We were rolling, and when the vehicle stopped, I couldn’t move. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The replacement windshield had popped out during the rollover, allowing the roof to buckle into the passenger compartment, breaking Tracey’s neck. TRACEY RHYNE If that windshield had reinforced like it was supposed to, I would have had at least four to six inches clearance. ARNOLD DIAZ Do you think about that? TRACEY RHYNE All the time. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) At first, this mother of three didn’t want to believe it when doctors told her the accident had left her a quadriplegic. TRACEY RHYNE When I heard it from Charles, I knew for sure that—that it was true. And I wasn’t going to be able to be the same kind of mommy or wife. My life had totally changed in a matter of a day. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The Rhynes sued the company that had installed the replacement windshield and settled for $2 million. CHARLES RHYNE They forgot to put a secondary primer in the installation in the windshield. So that the hardening material, when they put on the windshield, it didn’t harden. ARNOLD DIAZ Experts tell us windshields are often improperly replaced because many technicians are either sloppy or haven’t been trained well enough. So we decided to see for ourselves. We had windshields replaced in three different cities. (VO) In New Jersey, these installers had no idea we had a camera in a nearby van, and the customer was glass installation expert Steve Coyle (ph). Coyle said he spotted a few significant mistakes. For one thing, they handled the edges of the windshield with their bare hands. STEVE COYLE The oils from your fingers will get on the bonding surface, cause the adhesive not to stick there, and in case of an accident, that would be the first place that would let loose. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) I later questioned the installers about that. And when we were watching—watching it being put in, it was being carried, you know, with bare hands, with the fingers on the edges. 2ND MAN Actually, let me show you. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He said he’s able to carry the glass without his fingers touching the inside edges and showed me how he does it. 2ND MAN I carry it like that. My hands never touch the inside of the glass. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) I see. So your hands don’t actually curl in and touch. 2ND MAN Don’t even touch, no. But you—you’re raising very good points, and that is very important. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) ‘It sure is important,’ say our experts. But as for his special carrying technique, he must have forgot to use in it our case. Take another look at the surveillance pictures. His fingers are clearly touching the inside edges. And so were his partner’s. 3RD MAN I’ve never had a problem with the oils on the glass, I mean, unless you have a handful of grease or something like that, I could see. But your everyday... ARNOLD DIAZ But look at your fingers. I mean, that’s a handful of grease. 3RD MAN That’s from doing this all day. That’s not a handful of grease, trust me. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) Whether it’s grease or dirt, our experts say it’s still a problem. And that’s not all. The technicians are supposed to apply a coat of primer to the edge of the windshield before using this kind of urethane glue. It helps it stick better. But our expert never saw them put on the primer. They insisted they always do. 2ND MAN We do, when we receive the glass or in the morning, or, you know what I mean, just before we put it in, at some point, we’re priming it. It depends on the day. ARNOLD DIAZ Well, when did you put this... 2ND MAN We just slammed down 12 jobs, buddy. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) They’d been real busy, he said. So busy that perhaps they forgot to prime the glass? When did you put the activator on this piece of glass, do you know? 2ND MAN Uh, just before we put it in, no? ARNOLD DIAZ Just before you put it in? OK. 2ND MAN I didn’t prime it. Did you prime it? 3RD MAN Yeah. ARNOLD DIAZ When did you do that? 3RD MAN Just before we put it in. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) But the next day, we had the windshield they put in removed, and the urethane easily came loose. That indicates the primer was probably either never put on or no longer effective, say a number of experts. The company told us safety is very important to them and said their installers are certified and regularly trained. But clearly these guys were having a bad day. 2ND MAN Which actually, this is a bad example of how this is done, because we are working solo all day, every day. Honestly? When I have a co-worker or even for Dan here, I get out of sync when I’m—I have my own routine, when I’m by myself. And I one, two, three. You know? We have almost no comebacks. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) In Spokane, Washington, this worker from a glass company we called also contaminated the edges with his bare hands. Then the technician wiped the windshield with only a rag, failing to use the cleaning fluid he was supposed to. The company later fired him, but said it was an isolated incident and did not agree that the mistakes posed a safety risk. In Minneapolis, our expert, Steve Coyle, said this installer never warned him that it’s not safe to drive the car until the glue dries. STEVE COYLE He said ‘All I need to do is slap the glue in here and put the window in, and you’re ready to go.’ ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) The technician had a different story. You told the guy he could drive off. 4TH MAN I never told him he could drive off. ARNOLD DIAZ You didn’t? 4TH MAN No. ARNOLD DIAZ Well, how long should he wait until he drives that car away? 4TH MAN Well, it should definitely sit for a while. ARNOLD DIAZ How long? 4TH MAN It actually probably should sit for a couple hours. ARNOLD DIAZ Couple of hours? 4TH MAN Before it’s good and stiff. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He’s wrong. The manufacturer’s directions say the car wouldn’t be safe to drive for about 10 hours. The company said the technician made that mistake because our camera made him nervous. But Mitch Becker, another windshield expert, says based on his experiences, mistakes like the ones we found are not unusual. MITCH BECKER This is something that I run across commonly. ARNOLD DIAZ Commonly? MITCH BECKER Yes, across the country. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) In fact, at this salvage yard outside Minneapolis, Becker easily found evidence of one car after another with windshields improperly replaced. MITCH BECKER This section of the glass should not pull away. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) He says this and many other windshields were put in with a cheap adhesive called butyl tape, a material carmakers say is far too weak to keep the glass secure. That was obvious when Becker pushed out the windshield with his feet. So people were probably driving around in this car, having no idea that this was all that was holding their windshield in place and that it’s not enough. MITCH BECKER Right. Many people drive around and they don’t realize their life is in danger. ARNOLD DIAZ (VO) At the automobile factory, most of the windshield installation process is automated. Human hands don’t touch the glass until it’s already glued and in place, and even then, gloves are always used. Contrast that with the way we saw replacement windshields being installed. The potential for life threatening mistakes is obvious, as is the need for training to do the job right. TRACEY RHYNE If they could know what negligence they did has cost my family, to my children, maybe they would be more responsible in their jobs. BARBARA WALTERS Arnold, that is really tragic. Well, how does someone know where to go to get the right kind of treatment for the windshield? ARNOLD DIAZ Well, no matter who you call, the experts advise you may want to ask them, are you certified by the National Glass Association? They do have a certification program. Ask not just the shop but the person who’s actually putting the windshield in, the installer they’re certified. BARBARA WALTERS Does that guarantee it will be OK? ARNOLD DIAZ No, but it gives you a better chance it will be. BARBARA WALTERS What about asking your insurance agent to recommend somebody? ARNOLD DIAZ That could be a problem because sometimes they steer you to a place that does it cheap, and they may be cutting corners. BARBARA WALTERS So you have to know as much as possible yourself. ARNOLD DIAZ Right. BARBARA WALTERS Thank you, Arnold. Important news. We’d like to tell you, for more safety tips, visit our Web site at abcnews.com. We’ll be right back.