This occurred on Sept 24, 2011 at approx. 1:00 pm in Calgary, Alberta. It was a beautiful clear day, the temperature at the time was about 20 -23 degrees Celsius. My van was parked on a residential street facing eastbound.
Earlier in the day I tried to clean my exterior car windows with a wet cloth. While I didn't have any problems wiping down the north-facing side windows and the front window, I wasn't able to wash the south-facing side and rear windows because they were TOO HOT to touch! As I moved the wet cloth over the windows, the water would dry on the glass instantly, leaving streaks. The heat of the windows made it impossible for me to continue washing them without burning my fingers or hands so I abandoned the task for the time-being and left the sliding doors open for about 30 minutes to cool down the interior. (I don't think that interior pressure caused what happened next because a knob/latch is missing from the left side rear window so it doesn't close completely and creates an air gap.)
About two hours later, I drove to a self-serve car wash to wash down the van completely. I had my dog with me, who was tethered in and laying down on the seat directly behind the driver's seat. I started by walking around and spraying the soap solution over the whole vehicle. After adjusting the control to RINSE, I began washing the front of the van when I heard one very loud "POP" from somewhere behind the van. When I got to the back of the vehicle I noticed that my rear window exploded (or imploded)! It was completely crumbled, but was still mostly intact, with two holes in the glass, one in each bottom corner. I saw larger pieces of broken glass (approx 1" - 2") on the ground in the wash bay and more pieces inside the van. As I opened or shut the doors and drove out of the wash bay, the glass continued to fall down from the frame and into the back well area. (Pictures to be added.)
When I was cleaning up the broken glass inside the van, I noticed that there were glass shards behind the passenger seat. Luckily, my dog loves his spot behind the driver's seat so he was safe from this flying glass.
The BIG problem for me now is that my business is dependent on me driving a SAFE vehicle: I'm a dog walker and I'm entrusted to transport several dogs to the park and back home again EVERY DAY. I shudder to think about the pets or people that could have been harmed if this had occurred just 20-30 minutes earlier!
I've researched this issue and consider myself fortunate that this didn't happen while I was driving. But what I'm even more afraid of is that many people have reported this happening to them on MORE THAN ONE occasion!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This occurred on Sept 24, 2011 at approx. 1:00 pm in Calgary, Alberta. It was a beautiful clear day, the temperature at the time was about 20 -23 degrees Celsius. My van was parked on a residential street facing eastbound.
Earlier in the day I tried to clean my exterior car windows with a wet cloth. While I didn't have any problems wiping down the north-facing side windows and the front window, I wasn't able to wash the south-facing side and rear windows because they were TOO HOT to touch! As I moved the wet cloth over the windows, the water would dry on the glass instantly, leaving streaks. The heat of the windows made it impossible for me to continue washing them without burning my fingers or hands so I abandoned the task for the time-being and left the sliding doors open for about 30 minutes to cool down the interior. (I don't think that interior pressure caused what happened next because a knob/latch is missing from the left side rear window so it doesn't close completely and creates an air gap.)
About two hours later, I drove to a self-serve car wash to wash down the van completely. I had my dog with me, who was tethered in and laying down on the seat directly behind the driver's seat. I started by walking around and spraying the soap solution over the whole vehicle. After adjusting the control to RINSE, I began washing the front of the van when I heard one very loud "POP" from somewhere behind the van. When I got to the back of the vehicle I noticed that my rear window exploded (or imploded)! It was completely crumbled, but was still mostly intact, with two holes in the glass, one in each bottom corner. I saw larger pieces of broken glass (approx 1" - 2") on the ground in the wash bay and more pieces inside the van. As I opened or shut the doors and drove out of the wash bay, the glass continued to fall down from the frame and into the back well area. (Pictures to be added.)
When I was cleaning up the broken glass inside the van, I noticed that there were glass shards behind the passenger seat. Luckily, my dog loves his spot behind the driver's seat so he was safe from this flying glass.
The BIG problem for me now is that my business is dependent on me driving a SAFE vehicle: I'm a dog walker and I'm entrusted to transport several dogs to the park and back home again EVERY DAY. I shudder to think about the pets or people that could have been harmed if this had occurred just 20-30 minutes earlier!
I've researched this issue and consider myself fortunate that this didn't happen while I was driving. But what I'm even more afraid of is that many people have reported this happening to them on MORE THAN ONE occasion!!
- Marcy C., Calgary, Alberta, canada