Hey All,

I was driving along the seafront today and all of a sudden a squashed tin can flew into my windscreen as I was doing around 25MPH. Its left a scratch on my windscreen would this cause a MOT failure?

When i run my finger over it I cant feel a dent or a crack so I assume its just a scratch. I've attached a pic to make it abit more clear. 

Thanks

Hi Johnny, It depends on where the scratch is. Autoglass advise as follows:

"The windscreen is chipped or cracked. The maximum damage size is 10mm in the drivers’ line of vision (a vertical strip 290mm wide centred on the steering wheel), 40mm elsewhere in the rest of the area swept by the wiper blades"

DIY and pro repairs can be done to MOT standards 

Hey Adrian, 

Its right in the centre just under the rear view mirror. The snippet you sent is regarding chips or cracks, mine is more of a scratch. When I run my finger over it I cant feel a dip. I found the following snippet in section 8.3 of the MOT Manual:

"Scratches on the windscreen, i.e. light surface
scratching, are not to be considered as damage.
However, an area of concentrated scratching such
as caused by the prolonged use of a defective wiper
blade which obscures vision is to be considered a
Reason for Rejection if it meets the fail criteria"

Hopefully the scratch falls under that criteria! 

If the tester is allowed to use their common sense I would expect them to consider:

1. If the scratch impairs the driver's visibility.

2. If the damage is likely to affect the structural integrity of the windscreen, cos you don't want it to completely crack with the next small stone to hit the same spot.

Windscreen glass is laminated, with a layer of poly between layers of glass to prevent it shattering and breaking apart. A surface scratch which doesn't go through to the poly should not be considered damage in terms of mot failure.

is it within the sweep of the wipers? if so, would it be if you put slightly shorter wiper blades on.   all damage outside sweep of wipers does not count.

also the MOT rules on windscreens were made more lenient in recent years where any part of the windscreen you look through that only affects the view of the sky or the bonnet does not count. It also says that the MOT tester should not try to take into account varying heights of drivers when considering this. I recall this being in an update/revision and not in the main manual.  

Also, when's the MOT due. Anything could happen between now and then (cracks etc from more stray debris) so perhaps you should just forget about it until the MOT is due

 

is it within the sweep of the wipers? if so, would it be if you put slightly shorter wiper blades on.   all damage outside sweep of wipers does not count.
also the MOT rules on windscreens were made more lenient in recent years where any part of the windscreen you look through that only affects the view of the sky or the bonnet does not count. It also says that the MOT tester should not try to take into account varying heights of drivers when considering this. I recall this being in an update/revision and not in the main manual.  
Also, when's the MOT due. Anything could happen between now and then (cracks etc from more stray debris) so perhaps you should just forget about it until the MOT is due
 

you said everything i was going to point out.

Thanks for your responses guys.

the scratch in question is right in the centre of the windscreen so I dont think shorter wipers would do the trick unfortunately. Inside the car its almost impossible to spot unless you really look for it and I wouldn't class it as a obstruction at all. 

My MOT is months away, in February so I'll take your advice and worry about it later lol. Thanks anyway mate! 

Your could try some glass polish or jewelers rouge if as you say its only on the surface. Just did a bit of research and Cerium Oxide is recommended instead of jeweler rouge.

Edited September 10, 20178 yr by eddie eastwood
more info

1 hour ago, Ford_lover38 said:

its almost impossible to spot unless you really look for it

Then don't worry about it!

1 hour ago, eddie eastwood said:

Your could try some glass polish or jewelers rouge if as you say its only on the surface. Just did a bit of research and Cerium Oxide is recommended instead of jeweler rouge.

Interesting, I'll give that ago. Thanks