Stupid car radio thieves!!

October 12, 2007 2:13 PM

Will broken car window glass give my car a flat tire?

My car got broken into last night and they smashed my passenger window. My car was in my parking spot, and I tried to clean up glass with my hand vac and a broom, but it didn't pick a lot of it up, so I swept it to the side, near the curb. What are the chances of me getting a flat tire from this leftover broken window glass? And if they're high, do you have any additional recommendations as to how to clean it all up off of the gravel?

posted by echo0720 to home & garden (9 answers total)

If you 've got steel radials (and you almost certainly do) the chance of it causing a flat is negligible. But it can still damage the tread, and reduce tire life.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 2:15 PM on October 12, 2007

If the pieces are little square-like chunks, you should be fine. Tidy it up, of course, but you won't have shards punching through or anything.
posted by aramaic at 2:16 PM on October 12, 2007

Car window glass is designed to break in such a way that it won't flatten tires, or have sharp edges at all. If you just leave it there, a street sweeper will eventually pick it up, and it poses no real danger.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 2:22 PM on October 12, 2007

Car window glass is tempered safety glass. It'll break into little chunks that are mostly harmless. I wouldnt worry about it. Its metal that usually pops tires.
posted by damn dirty ape at 2:26 PM on October 12, 2007

God, I'm such a girl for not knowing that! Thanks!

So annoying -- a $200 window replacement because some jackass wanted my $29 XM radio that's now useless because I had it deactivated and marked as stolen in XM's database!
posted by echo0720 at 2:38 PM on October 12, 2007

Don't be harshin' on girls, now ...
posted by eritain at 6:43 PM on October 12, 2007

... or God, I guess.
posted by eritain at 6:44 PM on October 12, 2007

So annoying -- a $200 window replacement because some jackass wanted my $29 XM radio that's now useless because I had it deactivated and marked as stolen in XM's database!

I know this advice does nothing for you NOW, but...If you haven't already, see if you can add glass coverage to your insurance. It's a few bucks a month, and on my policy, it covers all glass 100%, for ANY reason. At first I didn't want to get it, but when a drunk started smashing windshields on my block (nothing stolen, just random idiocy), I was glad I had it. When I called in my claim, I just said, "someone smashed my windshield last night when it was parked," and it was taken care of by the end of the day. Hopefully you'll never need it again, but it's nice to know it's there.
posted by AlisonM at 7:08 AM on October 13, 2007

My stereo was stolen a few months ago and the thieves broke the small triangle window on the back door. ( I have a chevy prism) and I just replaced the window with a piece of Lexan that I bought for 8 bucks at Home Depot. I had to cut it to size but the money I saved was worth it. Depending on which window was broken, that might work for you as well.
posted by rmtravis at 8:22 AM on October 13, 2007