Most windshield damage around Sanford does not come from crashes. It comes from a small stone, thrown up from the road or dropped from a load, that meets the glass at highway speed. North Carolina has a law aimed at part of the problem: the rule that gravel and stone loads must be covered. Here is what it says, what it does not cover, and what to do when a stone finds your windshield anyway.
What G.S. 20-116(g) says
North Carolina’s size and load statute, G.S. 20-116, includes a rule on loads in subsection (g). In general, no vehicle may be driven on a highway unless it is constructed or loaded to prevent any of its load from “falling, blowing, dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping”. For trucks over 7,500 pounds gross vehicle weight carrying “rock, gravel, stone” and similar material, the statute goes further: the load must be kept six inches below the sides of the bed, and it must be “securely covered by tarpaulin or some other suitable covering”.
The point of the rule is plain: loose stone falling from a moving truck is a hazard to everyone behind it. It does not stop every stone. A load can be covered and still shed grit from the tailgate or the frame, and the tires of any vehicle pick up stones from the road surface and throw them backward.
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Why the roads around Sanford see stones
Sanford is a meeting point of highways: US 1, US 15/501 and US 421, with NC 42, NC 78 and NC 87 across Lee County. It grew as a railroad and industrial center and is known as one of the nation’s largest producers of brick and pottery. Those roads carry the traffic between Sanford, Southern Pines, Pittsboro and Lillington, trucks and cars alike, and any vehicle ahead of you can throw a stone.
Keeping your distance
- Leave more room behind trucks, especially loaded ones. A stone that falls from a load loses height and speed quickly; at a longer distance it is more likely to hit the road than your glass.
- Be careful passing a truck on a two-lane road: the stones come off its wheels as well as its load.
- Stay out of the wheel tracks of the vehicle ahead on a road with loose gravel at the edges or at a construction zone.
- Replace worn wiper blades: they will not stop a stone, but a worn blade drags grit across the glass.
If a stone hits: the first days
Look at the glass when you can stop safely. A small chip is a weak point in the outer layer; temperature changes, rough roads and the defroster on cold glass work on its edges until it spreads. Keep the chip clean and dry, avoid blasting hot or cold air straight at it, and have it looked at soon. A chip that is seen within days is far more likely to be repairable than one that has collected dirt and grown legs.
Whether it can be repaired depends on its size, type and place. ROLAGS, the repair standard, says stone-breaks up to two inches across and single-line cracks up to 14 inches are repairable, and Impex says a repair may be possible if the damage is small, shallow and away from the edges. Our page on windshield repair in Sanford, NC explains it in full, and the repair or replace guide covers the harder cases.
Can you claim against the truck?
In practice a stone from an unknown vehicle is a comprehensive claim on your own policy: the NC Department of Insurance lists “Missiles or falling objects” and “Breakage of glass” among the losses comprehensive coverage pays, less any deductible. A glass claim is not an at-fault accident, so it adds no SDIP points, although insurers may consider how often you claim. If you know exactly which truck dropped its load and can identify it, that is a different conversation to have with your insurer. See glass claims.
When it is past repair
A chip that has spread into a long crack, or one that reaches the edge of the glass, usually means a new windshield. Impex Auto Glass replaces windshields by mobile service across Sanford and Lee County; see windshield replacement in Sanford, NC.
General information
This article summarizes G.S. 20-116(g) and NCDOI guidance as of October 2026. It makes no claim about how many windshields are broken by trucks; no source for such a figure was found.
Questions people ask
Do gravel trucks have to be covered in NC?
Yes. Under G.S. 20-116(g), trucks over 7,500 pounds carrying rock, gravel or stone must keep the load six inches below the sides and securely covered by a tarpaulin or other suitable covering.
Who pays for a rock chip from the road?
Usually your own comprehensive coverage, less any deductible, since the vehicle that threw the stone is rarely known.
Questions about your glass?
Call and talk it through, or get a quote with the form on this page.