You may have been driving past a building site, off road or over winter grit, but any and all sharp pebbles and stones can leave dents or cracks in your windscreen.
Check for any signs of damage, as grit can cause numerous small impacts on the windscreen, says Germany's TÜV Nord vehicle advice centre.
The trouble is that any vibrations or temperature differences can quickly cause these impacts to crack.
And that can be a problem if they occur directly in the driver's field of vision, meaning the space above the steering wheel that is roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper. This is a particularly critical spot which, if damaged, is seen as a significant defect during a general inspection.
You may want to see if you can fix it, rather than swap out the window straight away. But whether the damage can still be repaired depends on its location and extent.
Usually, a repair is possible if the damage is only a few millimetres in size and is located outside that key field of vision and not at the edge of the windscreen.
But if the chipped area lies within your field of vision or close to the edge of the windscreen, replacement may be necessary.
Get any damage assessed by experts at an early stage to prevent a small defect from becoming a safety-related defect.
Depending on your policy and where you live, the cost of stone chip repair or windscreen replacement is usually covered by your insurance.
Comprehensive car insurance mostly covers windscreen chip repairs and replacements, often without affecting your no-claims bonus. – By Peter Löschinger/dpa
