A pivot shaft assembly for a wiper system including a collapsible pivot body, said pivot shaft assembly comprising: a pivot shaft adapted to direct a wiper arm in an oscillating manner across a windshield, said pivot shaft having a base mounted to a portion of a wiper system linkage assembly, a column that extends from said base and a pivot head that extends from said column and is adapted to engage a portion of the wiper arm; and pivot body that is operatively connected to said pivot shaft, including a housing having a channel defined therein and a mounting bracket to attach said pivot body to a portion of the vehicle, said pivot body further including a sleeve operatively disposed within said channel, said sleeve having an internal passage that is adapted to receive said pivot shaft and facilitate rotational movement of said column relative to said sleeve, wherein said pivot body further includes a plurality of bridges that connect said sleeve to said housing and are adapted to fail in response to a predetermined load acting on said pivot shaft and cause said sleeve to collapse within said housing thereby displacing said pivot shaft and a portion of a wiper arm below the impact line of a vehicle, characterized in that the pivot shaft assembly further includes a plurality of tabs depending from said housing that are adapted to guide said sleeve when collapsed within said channel in response to a predetermined load acting on the pivot shaft assembly and a plurality of reliefs adjacent to said tabs to provide limited lateral movement of said sleeve when said sleeve is collapsed within said channel in response to a predetermined load acting on a pivot shaft assembly. a pivot shaft adapted to direct a wiper arm in an oscillating manner across a windshield, said pivot shaft having a base mounted to a portion of a wiper system linkage assembly, a column that extends from said base and a pivot head that extends from said column and is adapted to engage a portion of the wiper arm; and pivot body that is operatively connected to said pivot shaft, including a housing having a channel defined therein and a mounting bracket to attach said pivot body to a portion of the vehicle, said pivot body further including a sleeve operatively disposed within said channel, said sleeve having an internal passage that is adapted to receive said pivot shaft and facilitate rotational movement of said column relative to said sleeve, wherein said pivot body further includes a plurality of bridges that connect said sleeve to said housing and are adapted to fail in response to a predetermined load acting on said pivot shaft and cause said sleeve to collapse within said housing thereby displacing said pivot shaft and a portion of a wiper arm below the impact line of a vehicle, characterized in that the pivot shaft assembly further includes a plurality of tabs depending from said housing that are adapted to guide said sleeve when collapsed within said channel in response to a predetermined load acting on the pivot shaft assembly and a plurality of reliefs adjacent to said tabs to provide limited lateral movement of said sleeve when said sleeve is collapsed within said channel in response to a predetermined load acting on a pivot shaft assembly.