diff --git a/geom/ray.hpp b/geom/ray.hpp
index dc782d93..e87785ff 100644
--- a/geom/ray.hpp
+++ b/geom/ray.hpp
@@ -27,22 +27,6 @@
 namespace util::geom {
     template <size_t S, typename T>
     struct ray {
-        constexpr ray () = default;
-
-        constexpr ray (point<S,T> _origin, vector<S,T> _direction) noexcept:
-            origin (_origin),
-            direction (_direction)
-        {
-            CHECK (is_normalised (direction));
-        }
-
-        constexpr ray (point<S,T> _origin, point <S,T> _distant) noexcept:
-            ray (_origin, _origin.to (_distant ))
-        {
-            CHECK (is_normalised (direction));
-        }
-
-
         // queries
         T closest (point<S,T>) const;
 
@@ -80,6 +64,8 @@ namespace util::geom {
     constexpr T
     distance (const ray<S,T> r, const plane<S,T> p)
     {
+        CHECK_SANITY (r);
+
         return dot (p.coefficients, r.origin.   template redim<S+1> (1)) /
                dot (p.coefficients, r.direction.template redim<S+1> (0));
 
@@ -105,6 +91,8 @@ namespace util::geom {
     constexpr T
     distance (const ray<S,T> r, const aabb<S,T> b)
     {
+        CHECK_SANITY (r);
+
         const auto t1 = (b.lo - r.origin) / r.direction;
         const auto t2 = (b.hi - r.origin) / r.direction;
 
diff --git a/test/geom/ray.cpp b/test/geom/ray.cpp
index 164d3885..7209d988 100644
--- a/test/geom/ray.cpp
+++ b/test/geom/ray.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-#include "../../geom/aabb.hpp"
-#include "../../geom/plane.hpp"
-#include "../../geom/ray.hpp"
-#include "../../tap.hpp"
+#include "geom/aabb.hpp"
+#include "geom/plane.hpp"
+#include "geom/ray.hpp"
+#include "geom/iostream.hpp"
+#include "tap.hpp"
 
 using util::geom::ray2f;
 using util::geom::ray3f;
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ void
 test_intersect_plane (util::TAP::logger &tap)
 {
     // trivial case: origin ray facing z, plane at unit z facing -z.
-    const util::geom::ray3f l (util::point3f {0,0,0}, util::vector3f {0,0, 1});
+    const util::geom::ray3f l { .origin = 0, .direction = {0, 0, 1} };
     const util::geom::plane3f p (util::point3f {0,0,1}, util::vector3f {0,0,-1});
 
     tap.expect_eq (distance (l, p), 1.f, "ray-plane intersect");