Raleigh auto glass, brought to where you park.

Size matters, but it is only one of three things a technician looks at. The others are depth and position. Impex’s own rule is that a repair may be possible when the damage is small, shallow and away from the edges of the glass. A break that reaches the edge, sits right in the driver’s line of sight or goes through both layers of the laminated glass points to a new windshield.

For size, the industry repair standard is ROLAGS, the Repair of Laminated Automotive Glass Standard run by the National Windshield Repair Division. Its published guidance is that stone breaks up to two inches across and single line cracks up to 14 inches long are repairable. Shops also use simpler rules of thumb: a chip smaller than a quarter usually can be filled, and damage smaller than a dollar bill is likely repairable. Those are rules of thumb, not laws, and they do not replace a look at the glass.

If the car lives in Orange County, the town pages go into the same choice with local detail: windshield replacement Chapel Hill NC for Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and windshield replacement Hillsborough NC for Hillsborough and the roads around it.

On most newer cars a camera sits behind the rearview mirror, looking out through the windshield. I-CAR, the collision repair training body, says forward facing cameras control lane departure warning, collision braking and adaptive cruise control, and it lists removing the windshield among the events that may require the camera to be aimed again. Requirements vary by year, make and model, which is why I-CAR keeps a search tool of maker requirements.

There are two ways to do it. A static calibration sets targets in front of the parked car while a scan tool runs the aiming procedure. A dynamic calibration has the car driven on the road at or below a set speed for a set time or distance. Some cameras need both. Impex says it performs ADAS calibration on site immediately after windshield replacement, can complete static and dynamic calibrations in one visit, and that calibration takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

Glass breakage is a comprehensive loss in North Carolina. The NC Department of Insurance lists breakage of glass and missiles or falling objects among the losses comprehensive coverage pays for, less any deductible. North Carolina has no law that waives the deductible for glass, unlike Florida or South Carolina, so what you pay depends on your deductible and on whether your policy includes full glass coverage. Some policies do; your policy documents or your agent will tell you.

• You choose who repairs the car. Under G.S. 58-3-180 a policy covering damage to a motor vehicle must let you select the repair service, and the insurer pays the same amount whichever you pick.
• If your insurer recommends a shop, it must tell you that you are under no obligation to use it.
• A comprehensive glass claim is not an at-fault accident, so it does not add Safe Driver Incentive Plan points. Insurers may still look at how often you claim.
• Impex works with all major insurance providers and can take the claim details when it quotes.

The stretch this site covers is one long run of interstate. From Raleigh, I-40 passes south of Umstead State Park, meets I-540 by RDU, crosses Research Triangle Park, runs along the south side of Durham and the north edge of Chapel Hill, then joins I-85 on the southern outskirts of Hillsborough. I-85 carries on northeast through Durham. That is a lot of highway miles behind trucks, and most chips start as a stone thrown up by the vehicle in front.

North Carolina requires loads to be secured so nothing falls or blows off. Under G.S. 20-116(g), trucks over 7,500 pounds carrying rock, gravel or stone have to keep the load six inches below the sides and covered by a tarpaulin or similar cover. Not every load is, and road work kicks up its own grit. Leave room behind gravel trucks, and if a stone does hit, get the chip looked at before the next cold night or the next pothole spreads it.

One more thing drivers ask: NC’s annual safety inspection under G.S. 20-183.3 checks your wipers, not the glass itself, and no NC statute sets a crack size. A crack in your line of sight is still a safety problem, and AGSC notes the windshield and side glass are part of the car’s passenger restraint system, so fix it for that reason.