5 ms·

Another datapoint is dead-bugs-on-windshield. It's so many fewer than there used to be.

• throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  There are confounding factors for this observation. Many insects move very little (like dozens or hundreds of yards) over the course of their lives and increased salt usage has increased the number of roads with seriously disturbed ecosystems along side them and width of said disturbed areas. I'm not saying pesticides aren't the cause or aren't part of the cause but roads have all sorts of other terrible stuff that can decimate insect populations going on. The sooner we switch to beet juice the better.
  • pfdietz 5y ago
    Another confounding factor is requirements for increasing gas mileage. One way to do that is reduce wind resistance, which could mean a more sloped windshield with less turbulent airflow. Insects could just be diverted more effectively now without striking the windshield.
    • drran 5y ago
      Old cars are still on the road. Even very old ones.
      • deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      • handrous 5y ago
        Owned a sleek and sporty (styled, anyway) '98 sedan, around the turn of the millennium. Just as with my parents' cars in the 80s and 90s, the windshield got splattered all the time. Had to clean it on road trips. Owned a far less-sleek '01 minivan... from like 2015 on, not when it was new. Near-zero "ew" bug impacts, even on road trips. I'm not sure I ever cleaned the windshield at a gas pump, which used to be routine.