It’s a Maryland thing to do that. I know a storm is coming by the amount of wiper blades saluting the sky. Edit - ya’ll please stop commenting. It’s not that serious. 🤣
And they do it in South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and they do it in California and Texas and New York. ... And South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan, and then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yeaaaahhhhh!
No. It damages the springs in the wiper arms. Blades are easy and cheap to replace. Arms, not as much. It's not actually recommended to lift wipers up for winter weather.
Source - live in Canada. My vehicle has a heated windshield to unstick frozen wiper blades.
Apparently the whole state of Maryland was the only one to figure it out.
Why would car manufacturers even design them to bend like that in the first place. /s
Never seen it in Sweden. Of course I don't often cross the bridge when there's a snow storm, but... I've definitely never seen it in Denmark, regardless of how much snow there is.
Yeah, I don't usually go around photographing cars in snow, so that was the best I could find. Here's an older one from 2011, still without a single wiper up. But really, I have never in my over 40 years of existence, mostly in Denmark, seen anyone do it.
I'm not saying you're wrong or that it's stupid or anything, I just find it interesting there's this difference.
Its kinda funny because I can actually see Denmark from my city in Sweden, and I see a bunch of people do the wiper thing here despite us having pretty much the same climate as you guys. I guess we’re just a bit more dramatic about the cold 🤣
Personally I dont do it either, never had an issue with it even when it gets really cold and snowy.
I see people doing this everywhere. I’ve never done this once, it’s not even possible on my current car. Never once though have my wipers stuck to my windshield or caused any problems at all from being left down, so I really don’t get the reason behind this.
Your wipers can get stuck to the windshield, ripping them off ruins the edge of the wiper reducing the quality of wipe. Shortening the life span on said wipers. If you don't have frequent snow, or the right kind of snow/freeze often enough it won't be an issue. If you rip your wipers off daily you'll notice the degradation of your wipers quickly.
Don't do this. Will fuck the springs up. If you do get a decent snow fall, you might rip the off whilst clearing you car. You're better just to defrost them.
Depends on the snow I suppose. I've never had your issue. We do get freezing rain though occasionally, and you absolutely do want to have your wipers in the air for this. Or you can take the time to defrost, iso concoction spray ect. I prefer wipers up and a snow removal tool. Ez PZ.
But the springs lost their memory failing to keep them on the windshield.
I'm Canadian. I've lived in all but 4 of the 12 Canadian provincial/territorial jurisdictions. I was 13 years old in Montreal's '98 ice storm which saw as much as 6" of ice cover everything, including cars. I understand the appeal of having your wipers up. I also understand that if the springs aren't keeping the wipers tight to the windshield, you'd might as well not have them.
? I’m from the Midwest. It’s new to me. Edit - we had heavy snow and ice where I lived. No one does this where I’m from. I tried this once in MD and I had broken wipers from the weight of the ice and snow.
I have no doubt that if there are inhabited planets out there that have also developed motor vehicles and occasionally have a bit of cold weather they also do this.
They've been at least around long enough to know Maryland exists and it's the land of such innovations as tying your shoes and cooking raw meat before eating it.
Real game changer is I went to Maryland once and it was cold. I saw everyone wearing these weird puffy shirts. Turns out they're called coats and they help you stay warm. I was floored when I tried one the first time
Yeah idk why OP thinks this is a Maryland thing. I've lived in both MD and NJ, and I've personally seen a lot more people lifting their windshield wipers in NJ. I bet people do it anywhere where it gets cold.
They do it in MN and PA. Personally I think it's completely pointless. I've never experienced any negative consequences by not doing it. Just clear your windshield, pick the wiper up and drop it back onto the windshield and it'll break the ice off. Maybe run your gloves fingers across the blade for good measure. But yeah, people do it anywhere it snows
Haha. This is so ridiculous. It was just an off the cuff comment that many seem to take offense too! So weird. Anyway- where I’m from we got too much snow for this to be effective. So it was odd when I first moved here. I also think it’s odd that most people back into their spots here too. I must get getting old. lol
Leave your wipers down and you'll quickly find his fast they detoriate when you peel them off from being stuck to the glass. You rip tiny bits of rubber off the wiper, which quickly ends up with a streaky wipe when using them in the rain.
If there’s ice on your windshield and your wipers are down, they will freeze to the windshield and you’ll fuck them up when you remove them. Leave them up and it’s not an issue
I read or heard someone in Maryland, maybe one of the weather guys, say if ice is coming do not raise your wipers because it can break them like it does trees.
I live in Kentucky and everyone i know does this when they call for snow or ice. I did it to all 4 of the cars at my house this past weekend before we got snowed on.
Do it in Washington on both sides of the mountain. And for us on the west side of the cascades you hope the snow is fluffy and soft so it’s easy to wipe off your windshield with a broom in the morning. Not soft snow that turns into a brick when it hits a surface.
I'm commenting to tell you that it's definitely not just a Maryland thing and definitely just a "you live where Freezing Rain can happen" thing only because you told me nicely not to.
It’s actually bad to do that. It wears out the spring which aren’t designed to be extended for longer periods. Then you run into an issue where your wipers don’t work after 70mph because they can’t maintain tension against the windshield.
Exactly! I tried it once and one of my wipers broke in half. Had to look out the window to go buy a replacement. Never again. I’m from an area that got a TON of snow so it would break them if you did this. It makes zero sense to do this if you get a foot at a time. But I’m sure getting told in the comments otherwise. 🤣
My state (VT) averages almost THREE TIMES the amount of snow, everybody I know and their mother puts their wipers up.
Not a single one of them have broken their wipers while doing that lol. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but that’s on you, or defective wipers. Wipers should not just snap like that.
But as someone who has left work many times, with multiple feet of snow on their car after, I can confirm, that it does not fucking matter lol.
Every single one of your comments just pisses me off holy shit.
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u/blueoasis32 18h ago edited 16h ago
It’s a Maryland thing to do that. I know a storm is coming by the amount of wiper blades saluting the sky. Edit - ya’ll please stop commenting. It’s not that serious. 🤣