PULSCAR SORTING RULES — WINDSHIELD COMPLAINTS (NHTSA, 2015 TO 4 OCTOBER 2026)
Published alongside https://www.pulscar.io/blog/windshield-replacement-cost . License: CC BY 4.0.

The rules below were written before any complaint in the set was sorted, and a dated record of these rules was kept before sorting:
2026-11-04T08:27:38Z  (UTC time)
d4da1c82699183ad57b17b6562e04d87e4ae36afc3719263f576146228880d84  (identifier of the rules file exactly as written)

POOL HISTORY: the first search (the pattern in the appendix) found 3,159 complaints and was not changed after the rules were fixed. A second search over every other complaint that names a windshield in a glass sense (1,582 with damage or repair wording within 200 characters of the word) was read in full and added 827 complaints, which were sorted by the same rules, unchanged; a dated record of that addendum was kept before they were sorted:
2026-11-04T09:43:03Z  (UTC time)
0fe669569f36940d238f06701903e61f0af88c4b986ad61a3432dd373f60685c  (identifier of the addendum file exactly as written)
Addendum text:

Written before any of these complaints was sorted. The sorting rules (dated before the first sorting) is unchanged: same relevance rule, categories, flags and tie-break rules.

After the first pool (3,159 complaints) was fully sorted, a second search was run over every complaint that names a windshield in a glass sense but was not in the first pool (1,582 complaints with damage or repair wording within 200 characters of the windshield). All 1,582 were read; the ones that are not category N under the sorting rules's relevance rule (the narrative says this vehicle's front windshield glass was cracked, chipped, broken, replaced, repaired, recommended for replacement or quoted) are added here. Most of them were missed by the first pool only because the repair or replacement word was not within 60 or 80 characters of the word "windshield" ("windshield cracked", "crack in the windshield" with no repair word).
These additional complaints are sorted by the same rules (two independent sortings, written tie-break rules) and marked found_by = completeness search.

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# Sorting rules — windshield complaints (windshield-replacement-cost study)

Written before any complaint in the set was sorted.

## Pool (how the complaints were found)
NHTSA complaints received 2015-01-01 to 2026-10-04 (782,908 narratives, NHTSA flat files
downloaded 07.10.2026). The word "windshield" alone matches 21,700 narratives and is NOT the
pool (most are wipers, washers, defrost, haze, glare, camera mounts). A complaint is in the
pool only if ALL of these hold (exact patterns in the appendix of this file):

1. The narrative names the windshield (also "wind shield", "windscreen", "front glass",
   common misspellings) in a glass sense: not directly followed by wiper, washer, fluid, nozzle,
   spray, motor, blade, wiping; not directly preceded by "rear", "back", "tailgate", "liftgate",
   "hatch".
2. Within 60 characters before or 80 after such a mention there is a repair/replacement word:
   replace, repair, install, fix, new, aftermarket, OEM, calibrate, recalibrate, resin, reseal.
3. The narrative also contains at least one of: a crack/chip/shatter/broken/spider/rock/debris
   word; a cost word ($ amount, dollars, insurance, deductible, cost, paid, quote, charged,
   bill, price, estimate, out of pocket, claim); a calibration/camera word (calibrate, ADAS, lane
   keep/departure, EyeSight, camera).
The pool is wide inside that frame on purpose: owners rarely use the words a glass shop uses.
The people sorting decide relevance (N) for every complaint.

"Windshield" here means the front windshield glass of THIS vehicle (the laminated glass in front
of the driver and passenger, bonded to the body). It does NOT mean the rear window or tailgate
glass, side or door glass, a sunroof or panoramic roof, a wiper, a washer or a mirror.

For each complaint record exactly one CATEGORY and five yes/no FLAGS.

## RELEVANCE

N — Not about this vehicle's front windshield glass being damaged, replaced, repaired or
    quoted. Examples of N: the glass is the rear window, a side window, a sunroof or a panoramic
    roof; "windshield" appears only as a place (a camera, sensor, sticker or device sits on the
    windshield; fogging, glare, reflection, haze, wipers, washers, defrost) with no statement
    that the glass itself was cracked, chipped, damaged, replaced, repaired or quoted; the
    replacement or repair named is a wiper, a camera, a sensor or another part and the
    windshield glass is not said to be damaged, replaced or quoted; a general remark not about
    this vehicle ("windshields crack all the time").
    A front windshield that the owner, a shop, a glass company, a dealer, an insurer or the maker
    says was cracked, chipped, broken, replaced, repaired, recommended for replacement or
    quoted, on THIS vehicle, makes the complaint NOT N, even if the rest of the complaint is
    about something else (for example a camera that failed after the windshield was replaced).

## CATEGORY (one letter) — what the complaint says happened to the windshield glass on this vehicle

R — Windshield replaced. The complaint states the front windshield was replaced (done, not only
    quoted) by anyone: glass shop, dealer, mobile glass company, the owner, after a crack, a
    chip, a collision, a leak or a recall. A replacement that was later redone is still R.

P — Windshield repaired in place. The complaint states a chip or crack was repaired (resin
    injection or similar) and the glass was kept; without R.

Q — Replacement or repair quoted, recommended, ordered, scheduled, delayed (part on order) or
    refused/declined by a dealer, shop, glass company, insurer or maker, but the complaint does
    not say it was done; without R or P. The owner repeating "they told me I need a new
    windshield" counts as Q. A refusal to cover or pay for the glass is Q.

D — Damage only. The owner reports the windshield cracked, chipped, shattered, pitted,
    delaminated or distorted, with no replacement, repair, quote, recommendation or refusal
    stated; without R, P or Q.

Precedence when more than one fits: R, then P, then Q, then D.
(Windshield replaced after being quoted = R; a chip repaired and the glass later replaced = R.)

## FLAGS (yes/no)

maker — the maker, a dealer, a warranty or extended warranty, a recall, a special coverage or
    customer-satisfaction program, or goodwill paid or agreed to pay for the glass work (in
    full or in part), or the work was done free by the dealer. "no" when the owner paid, when
    payment is not stated, when coverage was requested and refused, and for N.

insurer — an insurance company, a glass-coverage policy, an insurance claim, a deductible or an
    insurer-assigned glass company is part of the story for the glass work (paid, reimbursed,
    claim filed, claim denied, deductible named, owner chose not to claim). "no" when insurance
    is not mentioned in connection with the glass, and for N.

adas — the complaint ties the windshield glass to a camera or sensor function: calibration
    needed, done, failed or skipped; a camera, lane-keeping, collision-warning, EyeSight, rain
    sensor, heads-up display or heated-glass feature that failed, warned or was disabled after
    the glass was damaged or replaced; or a camera/sensor named in the glass bill or quote. "no"
    when no camera or sensor is connected to the glass in the story, and for N.

spont — the glass cracked or shattered with no impact stated: the owner says it cracked by
    itself, spontaneously, with no stone, no debris, no accident, while parked, from heat or
    cold or vibration, or calls it a defect. "no" when an impact (stone, debris, accident,
    object) is stated, when the cause is not stated, and for N.

after — a problem is reported after a windshield replacement or repair: a leak, wind or water
    noise, a new crack, bubbling or delamination, distortion, a poor fit or trim, a camera or
    sensor fault that began after, or repeated replacements of the same windshield. "no" when no
    such outcome is stated, when the fix held, and for N.

## Output
One line per complaint, comma-separated, no header, in the order given:
`odino,category,maker,insurer,adas,spont,after,note`
category is one of N R P Q D; flags are yes or no; for N write no for all five flags.
note: at most 15 words, no commas (use semicolons), naming the evidence (e.g.
"cracked by rock; replaced $400 at glass shop; insurer paid").

## Appendix — exact pool patterns (case-insensitive)
```
WS      = wind\s?shield | windscreen | front glass | windshied | wind\s?sheild
NONGLASS= WS directly followed (within 40 chars of the start of the match) by \W+(wipers?|washers?|fluid|nozzles?|spray|motor|blades?|wiping|wipe)
REARBEF = (rear|back|tailgate|liftgate|hatch)\W*$  in the 12 characters before the match
REP     = \b(replac\w*|repair\w*|install\w*|fix\w*|new|aftermarket|oem|recalibrat\w*|calibrat\w*|resin|re-?seal\w*)\b
          within 60 characters before or 80 after the match
CRACK   = crack\w*|chip\w*|shatter\w*|broke\w*|broken|spider\w*|rock\b|pebble|debris|stone
COST    = \$\s?\d | \b\d+\s?dollars | insurance | insurer | deductible | \bcost\w* | \bpaid\b | \bquote\w* | charged | \bbill\w* | \bprice\w* | estimate\w* | out of pocket | \bpay\b | \bclaim\b
CAL     = calibrat\w* | \bADAS\b | lane (keep|depart)\w* | eyesight | camera
pool    = at least one WS match not excluded by NONGLASS/REARBEF, with REP near it, AND at least one of CRACK, COST, CAL anywhere in the narrative
```

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TIE-BREAK RULES, written while disagreements were settled and extended as later ones came up (rule_applied in the complaints file names the rule used):
R1 spont: spont=yes when the owner says the glass cracked with no impact seen, no stone, no known cause, or while parked/at idle/from heat or cold, even if a shop later guesses a stone. spont=no when the owner names an impact (stone, debris, object, hood, accident) or says they saw the rock.
R2 insurer: yes when insurance, a claim, a deductible or an insurance-assigned glass company is part of the glass story (including 'no collision insurance' or 'chose not to claim'); no when insurance appears only for other damage.
R3 category R vs Q: R only when the narrative says the glass was replaced/installed (done). 'Scheduled', 'ordered', 'waiting for glass', 'shop is replacing it' (future) = Q.
R4 category P vs R: a repaired chip that was later replaced = R; 'repaired' with no statement of resin/chip repair and an ambiguous 'vehicle was repaired' = D unless the narrative says the glass itself was repaired or replaced.
R5 after: yes only for a problem stated after a replacement/repair (new crack, leak, noise, camera fault, redo). A second replacement of the same windshield counts as after=yes. A crack before any replacement is not after.
R6 adas: yes when a camera, sensor or calibration is tied to the glass story; a camera named only as a place on the windshield (no damage, replacement or calibration link) is no.
R7 N: the windshield glass of THIS vehicle must be said damaged/replaced/repaired/quoted; a rear/side/sunroof glass, a part mounted on the windshield (mirror, camera, sensor) with no glass damage is N.
R8 after: yes also when (a) a chip/crack repair was followed by the damage spreading or by a replacement, (b) a repair attempt made the damage worse, (c) a replacement windshield cracked again or had to be redone. A repaired chip that stays visible (cosmetic only) is no.
R9 maker: yes only when the maker or its dealer did the glass work without charge to the owner, paid or agreed to pay all or part of it, offered a goodwill payment, or a recall covered it. A dealer fixing its own stock before the sale to this owner is no. An offer the owner declined is still yes (offered); a refusal is no.
R10 category R vs Q: 'was replaced', 'we replaced it', 'new windshield installed' = R; 'is being replaced', 'will be replaced', 'ordered', 'waiting for the part', 'quoted' = Q unless the narrative later says it was done.
R11 category Q vs D: if any shop, dealer, glass company, insurer or maker is reported to have said it must be replaced, quoted a price, or refused to cover it, the category is Q; the owner's own wish to replace is D.
R12 category P vs R vs D: 'repaired' for a chip or small crack with the glass kept = P; 'repaired' with no statement that the glass itself was repaired (the vehicle was repaired) = D.
R13 category N vs D: a windshield crack caused by another part's failure (hood opening, airbag, loose trim) is still D/R/Q if the windshield glass itself is said to be damaged; N only if the glass is not said to be damaged.
R14 adas: yes also when the owner says the replacement glass must be the maker's glass because of a camera system (EyeSight etc.) or names a camera/sensor price in the glass quote.
R15 insurer: yes also when the owner says 'my insurance would not cover', 'I paid the deductible' or 'claim was denied'.
R16 successive windshields: an ordinal such as 'my third windshield', 'second windshield in a year', 'replaced it twice' says earlier windshields were replaced: category R (done). 'Cracked three times' or 'failed again' with no word of replacement or repair stays D (or the category the narrative supports).
R17 repair vs replacement: 'repaired' with the glass kept (resin) is P whatever the crack length; 'repaired' a shattered windshield, or a shop that 'fixed' a long crack by installing glass, is R only if the narrative says new glass/replacement; otherwise P for a crack repair and D for 'the vehicle was repaired'.
R18 claim filed: 'filed an insurance claim to replace/fix it' with no outcome stated = Q, insurer=yes. A claim that paid for a done replacement = R, insurer=yes.
R19 'replacement mandatory/required/needed' said by a shop, dealer or maker and nothing done = Q.
R20 new crack after an earlier job: category follows the latest stated action; after=yes only when the SAME repaired chip spreads or the SAME replacement windshield cracks/leaks/fails; a separate new crack on glass whose chip was repaired is a new event (after=no).
R21 a dealer-sold 'glass/protection plan' or glass coverage product counts as insurer=yes; a maker warranty counts as maker.
R22 adas: an owner's theory about cameras and glass thickness without a camera in the glass story = no.
R23 contact-template phrasing: when a contact narrative says a shop or dealer diagnosed that the windshield needed replacing and then says 'the vehicle was repaired' (and the failure came back), the windshield job is treated as done = R; with no diagnosis of replacement stated, 'the vehicle was repaired' stays D (R12).
R24 spont and a suspected impact: an impact the owner or a shop names as possible or likely (a possible pebble, probably a stone) counts as a stated impact: spont=no. Only an owner statement of no impact seen, no known cause, or an unexplained crack while parked gives spont=yes.
R25 spont applies to cracking or shattering only; delamination, bubbling, haze or distortion with no crack is spont=no.


CONSISTENCY PASS: complaints on which both sortings agreed were checked against the rules by a word check that flagged 312 of them as possibly inconsistent; each flagged complaint was read, and 25 were changed (rule_applied shows the rule and the reason).