Originally Posted by
fiveninerzero
Which may not be the best idea.
Your windscreen serves as a stressed member of your vehicle's chassis, forming part of the structural integrity of your vehicle. A cracked windshield compromises the rigidity of your vehicle's frame, and may not hold up as advertised during a collision.
To add to that, it's that much easier to blow it out completely when the smallest object hits it. I can attest. I watched a crack in my windshield go from less than 1" across to 11" during a 20 minute 65 mph commute.
There's so much loose gravel on the roads here (we don't salt the roads in winter in order to avoid rust; we use gravel instead) that we literally get a new crack or chip at least once a year.
I'd estimate at least a third of Alaskan cars are driven around with cracked windshields. Somehow we all survive.