We have just returned from our first trip to Banff National Park and it was wonderful. We have rented cars for many years and we have never had any car damage, that is, until now. It was cold and frost had formed on the car windows. After scraping them clean, we turned on the defrost and drove off for the day’s adventures. However, within a few minutes we noticed an almost invisible crack on the front windshield right above the defrost vents. That crack slowly increased to about an 18 inch long horizontal crack. We are sure that the frost and then the defrost helped the crack’s expansion. We had waived insurance coverage as our American Express credit card covered car damage. We also have an additional American Express car rental rider. When we returned the car to the rental agency in Calgary, they looked at the crack and said it was caused by a tiny rock nick. This nick was in the very middle of the crack line. It was extremely small and could have easily been there when a prior renter was driving.
We think the crack was caused by the defrosting of the windshield and/or perhaps a defect in the windshield itself. Their desk staff told us that Alberta does not use sand or salt for the roads, but rather coarsely ground rock! Sure enough, when you start looking at the sides of the roads, you will see scattered small rock pieces everywhere. Yet, we were quite skeptical that the province really used broken up rocks for traction. So, the rental agent took us to his personal car to show the damage on his own windshield. That rental agency offers separate windshield insurance coverage at $5 daily because of the rock damage to front windows. Prior to leaving Calgary, we submitted our claim to our credit card company. Our credit card company said that we were also covered for something called “loss of use.” That was a new term for us. It means that the car rental agency can charge you for the days when their damaged car is in the shop waiting to be repaired and thus the renter is charged for the money that car would have made the agency! So, if you are renting a car in Alberta, you may want to call your car insurer to positively make sure that you are covered for windshields and loss of use. Also, carefully inspect the front windshield—both inside and out—for any tiny cracks or nicks.

In the western provinces, given the winter temperatures, they tend not to use salt. As a Toronto boy, I was impressed at just how cold it got on the prairies (-30c no problem) and because salt at such a temperature is a bit of a waste, sand and other traction-improving substances are de rigeur. Even back here in the east, I was impressed to see a stone chip expand to a window-wide crack within a day.

Such is life!

Actually when it gets to -30; the gravel just bounces off the icy roads too. We're used to rock chips here!

Wow!! I must have my head in the sand

I have lived in Alberta for 50 years, and have never encountered the windshield problems described here. Naturally one has to be careful when driving on the (very few these days) gravel roads behind a pick-up truck, or sometimes even when behind large semi's or buses on the highways (those large tires tend to throw up snow or mud or slush or whatever happens to be around), but the truth is most Albertans (70%) live in cities where this is not an issue.

As for minus 30 degree temperatures - a gross exaggeration - there were more plus 30 then minus 30 days last year in central Alberta. It's amazing how people remember one or two days out of 365, and then proceed to generalize and stereotype the rest of the year.

Hey Borealis - I didn't say we spent months at -30; I said "when" it gets to that temperature, which it seems to at least one day during the winter and then the gravel all ends up at the side of the roads. I live in Calgary, don't drive on rural roads and don't usually drive behind semi trucks and have chips in my windshield. I can say I've never heard of a small chip causing a crack like the OP described. We all have different experiences!

They also don't use salt in the national parks because it attracts animals (especially bighorn sheep) to the roads to lick the salt off the pavement. This may not be a problem in Banff NP where most of the TransCanada is fenced, but up here in Jasper, they've been experimenting with other ice-melting compounds on the roads. But yes, they use mostly grit. (And this year, the incidence of -30 probably IS higher than +30, given the cold and crappy summer we've had.)

MnJ, sorry to hear about your experience. That nick may well have been there when you got the car, and conditions with the frost & then heat from defrosting were enough to make it crack. Once they start going, there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Yes, it is an issue specific to Alberta. I know live in B.C. But I lived in Calgary for 13 years and I always had chips in my windshields. Although my husbands trucks never did...go figure and he drove way more than me.

I guess many of the posters here have never driven across the country, across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northwestern Ontario, or in the north, whether B.C., Yukon or Northwest Territories.
This is by no means a "specific Alberta" issue, and is not even a frequent problem in Alberta, based on my experience and the experiences of my numerous family members, friends, aquaintances, and work colleagues.
Fender bender accidents in winter are a much bigger problem.
I'm not saying that cracks in windshields don't happen, just that this is NOT "a big problem in Alberta", something that the OP claimed based on a very short stay here.

I have to disagree Borealis. AMA our old insurer did tell us that Alberta and Calgary in particular was the worst for windshield damage. In the interior of B.C where I live now windshields are covered in our insurance unlike Calgary where it was extra.

At Dollar, the agent really wanted us to get the insurance, he noted that rock chips on the windshield were a common occurrence and would not be covered by my insurance.

We have coverage in Canada with our regular auto insurancebut didn't know about the windshield coverage. We also are covered with the World Mastercard. I did not see any exclusions on my World Mastercard Guide of Benefits--they do note they do not cover you on dirt roads.

When I got my first car (20+ years ago), windshield coverage was part of the standard insurance package and I actually got my windshield replaced once on it with a $50 deductible.

Then my coverage got changed to a $250 deductible a couple of years later. The insurance company told me it was because of the very high number of claims they were getting because of rock chips.

Now, windshields are only covered by a special clause.

Yep it's a problem here. It may be in other place also, but, I can only speak to my experience driving in Calgary/southern Alberta.

Once upon a time, back when I was living in Edmonton, I was in Yellowknife, having arrived on a Falcon private jet to attend a ceremony with a group of other southerners, plus a few locals.

Early the next morning, our phones started ringing -- did we have extra seats on our plane?

Turns out the airliner that brought most of the people up was sitiing outside all night, at about minus 40, and the ground crew turned on the defrosters full blast and cracked the windshield.

The airline flew another windshield section up, but in a transport plane, leaving some of the scheduled passengers stranded in Yellowknife for a few hours.

As we drove to our plane, we passed some poor mechanic up on a scaffold at the front fo the plane, installing the windshield in the cold and wind.

When we got back to Edmonton, it was even colder there.

That's when I learned about frozen tires, lowered air pressure, and collapsed sidewalls.

The winter earlier I lived in Calgary. We bought cross country skies at the boxing day sale, and from then on, no snow without driving all the way to the mountains.

I left my overcoat inmy car when I was in town, and just put it one when flaying to somewhere cold.

Plus 10 was common that winter.

As for cold elsewhere -- I learned you can freeze your lungs walking from the Winnipeg Holiday Inn to Tony Roma's, and in Regina, if I found myself going the wrong way in a rented Impala, I just cranked over the wheel and floored it, and spun 180 degrees.

After several years in the west, I learned which hotels had heated garages, which had plug-ins, and which had neither, meaning you always backed in just in case you needed a jump.

That said, my only cracked windshield was near Barrie, Ontario, courtesty of an idiot in a Cavalier.

BAK

I also live in Alberta and "Yes", they do use crushed rock in lieu of sand in the winter. A tiny sand chip in the windshield can and usually will result in a lengthy crack when a warm defroster is turned on to an icy-cold windshield. There "IS" a cure and that is to have the chips "repaired" by going to a glass shop and paying them $15 or $20 to epoxy in the hole.

Having said that, I drive about 30,000 km a year and I have to replace my windshield every two or three years even if it isn't broken or cracked. The grit in the air "sandblasts" the windshield and it gets so you can't see through it at night!

Of course, we're lucky compared to folk who live or drive up on the Alaska or Dempster highways: you can't even buy insurance there and that goes for rental motorhomes as well.

Oh yeah, and if you put in a claim for a broken windshield the insurance companies count that as a "claim" same as if the vehicle had been accidented. Guess what happens to your rates then? Usually two years' worth of windshield insurance premiums is about equal to a replacement anyway so what's the point?

Yes, the rock that hit the windshield probably caused the crack...they usually expand eventually regardless of frost presence.

I just cannot believe the comment of borealis. I used to go to Alberta 2x yr and I always noticed how many cars had windshield damage. It is common knowledge out there. I personally object strongly to rental car co's giving me a car with snow or dirt on the w/s or inside a darkish parking garage where you cannot accept the car properly. The O/P's comments are correctly (not the heat/cold part, but the rocks part) and well stated.

For the record, I've lived in Alberta for over 50 years, and travel the province frequently.

I just can't believe the number of people who have been here only once or twice for a few days and feel justified in making exaggerated generalizations about the road conditions, or the condition of rental vehicles!!

This is not "just" an Alberta problem. If you travel in areas with cold winters, or in provinces with poor roads (Manitoba and Saskatchewan), or those with gravel shoulders (B.C. - just came back from a 2000 km trip to central B.C. and couldn't believe the shape of their highways) - you could encounter problems with flying rocks hitting windshields. Watch out for semi's, especially those that have travelled in rough terrain (for example, logging trucks).On the other hand, a highway that is in poor shape this year may be re-paved next year and could be the best road that you drive on during your whole trip. By the way, we came back (after travelling over 800 km within Alberta) with absolutely no problems with our windshield (well, except for the “bug splat”).

As for rental vehicles, I think there is a lack of respect for property in general which is reflected in the way some (not all) people treat these vehicles. Too bad rental companies do not impose some sort of penalty, perhaps they do

The other thing that might lead to an increased number of observations about Alberta vehicles having cracked windshields is that the province of Alberta does not require vehicles to have safety inspections very often (mainly when being first registered in Alberta after coming in from out-of-province.) In other provinces, New Brunswick for instance where my dad lives, cars are inspected quite often (can't remember exactly - every two or three years?), and it won't pass inspection with a cracked windshield, and has to be fixed before you can renew the vehicle's registration.

I don't know about windshields, but I know there is a much bigger problem with breaking wind in Alberta.

Hi. We are the orginal posters and wanted to provide an update about the cracked windshield. American Express paid Enterprise $235.62 and thus the claim inquiry was closed as of Oct 16. This was our first experience with a car rental claim and we were very satisfied. The insurer handled everything once we submitted the needed paperwork.

Good of you to post a follow-up on this, MnJ. Hope your experience with the windshield doesn't put you off Banff or Alberta. My attitude... the windshield breaks, you replace it, no problem! (having had to replace about 6 in the last15 years on various vehicles).