We’ve had some pretty bad weather here recently, with snow and freezing rain and everything that comes with that. Specifically in this case, the “everything that comes with that” means frozen windshields. As you may already know, there are two major schools of thought when it comes to ice-covered windshields that result from a car being left outside overnight in cold, inclement weather: raise the wipers or leave them down.
Wipers up or wipers down. It’s the sort of question that has torn families apart for centuries. There are pretty valid reasons for either choice, I think, but I think fundamentally it comes down to personal preference. And that brings us to the ethical conundrum I was recently informed of by a friend of mine. This person lives in a place with a good-sized communal parking lot where the tenants of the complex park. On one of the recent nights where we got snow and ice, they noticed a neighbor walking from car to car, raising people’s wipers off their windshields.
My friend is not someone who subscribes to the wipers up school of thought; they’re a wipers down person. And while nobody doubts that the motives of this wiper-raiser were anything other than altruistic, the act of raising those wipers was nonetheless not a welcome act to my friend, nor would it be to many people. Some people may appreciate it, but overall, I have to ask: automotively, is this ethical?
I don’t think the actual details of wipers up versus wipers down really matter here; the question is whether or not doing something one firmly believes to be beneficial to a car you don’t own is okay or not. The wipers up/down example is a good one because it’s not universally agreed upon; even if the unbidden wiper-lifter believed he was saving people the hassle of freeing their frozen-to-the windshield wipers and protecting them and their wiper motors from damage, others believe that he could be exposing the wiper arms to more damage.
For example, I have several old cars with fragile or finicky wiper setups, and someone unfamiliar with them lifting them up could cause damage. Lifting people’s wipers, I think, is a fundamentally presumptuous act, one that blindly assumes that your own methods for dealing with an icy windshield are the best. There’s an arrogance to the act at worst, and an ignorance at best.
In this case, I think it’s wrong to mess with someone else’s car, even if your intentions are good.
That said, personally, I’m not someone who is particularly fussy about my car being touched or anything like that. If someone thinks my car has an interesting detail and runs a finger along it, I don’t mind at all, but I know people who do, so, generally, I try and treat people’s cars with the assumption that their owners are fussier than I am. But I do think if there’s a situation where you can provide a clear and unquestionable benefit to someone’s car by physically interacting with it, you can and maybe should.
The most invasive example I can think of may be if you’re walking by, say, an older car with open wind-up windows, and a heavy rain starts. If that were my car, I would be thankful if someone opened my door and rolled up my windows. But what about an open convertible in the rain? That’s a worse situation, but I do not think I’d be comfortable putting up someone’s manual convertible top, simply because that’s an operation that may be significantly more complex than rolling up a window, and has more possibility for me to break something. But if I had a tarp, would I throw it over the open car? Probably?
It’s a pretty murky area. Now, if a car’s parking brake popped off and a car started to roll away, I think most of us would at least see if a door was open to try and get the car stopped, right? That’s a much more dire situation than a wet interior, and comes with some public safety risks.
So where’s the line, there? Is it ever okay to mess with a car that’s not yours if your intentions are good? I’d love to know what we, as a community, are thinking. If you saw an Autopian sticker or badge on the car, would that change things? Let’s think this through and show our work here; this is more of a subtle problem than it seems. Except maybe for the wipers guy; I think that dude should just leave his neighbor’s cars be unless asked.
Here, you can pick a stance in this poll before we get into it in more detail in the comments:
I live in NW lower Michigan, and almost everyone at my work puts their wipers up. I don’t see the point. If you’re worried about them freezing down, you’re gonna have to scrape your windshield anyway. Just scrape them loose.
Maybe they’re all bolted on now? I’m used to driving 80s-90s GMs, which I drove in the winter for most of my life (the ones I have now are classics that won’t see snow). The latch to lock the wiper in the raised position, is the same latch to clock the wiper arm and remove it entirely. So if it hasn’t fallen off on its own, you put it back down. And say the latch is not fully seated into the groove, then the wiper will fall off when driving. Hmmm, definitely possible with a latch that’s been sitting open to ice and snow all day, and fiddling with the latch with frozen hands. Or you end up with a wiper that’s clocked wrong and goes up too far and off the windshield.
I have scraped the tip of the wiper blade off because I forgot to put them up.
I’d never touch someone else’s wipers, but I’d probably try to stop a runaway car. although the days of me being able to catch up with one, jump in and find the brake are long over.
I have a garage and live in a part of the country that rarely sees snow, so it’s all kind of moot, but I wonder what the wiper engineers think of the up/down on the glass issue.
In 1986 Moscow, I noticed the majority of cars had the blades removed and replaced rubber spacers, presumably to prevent theft.
NO. I’d put mine up, but some people will argue that certain snows can bend the wiper arms if they are left up. Let the owner decide and take responsibility for their own car.
Re: Wipers, “doing unprompted favors” is strictly forbidden. While most people probably wouldn’t be particularly irked, some have a deeply ingrained belief that it’ll prematurely wear out the springs, resulting in wiper skip(etc), aside from the risk of damaging something.
Re: A Runaway car situation; no, most people would freeze rather than intervene, though they “would if they could”, or believe so. Many more would actively decide to not put themselves in harms way, as a greater risk is introduced- weighing property damage vs personal injury. Like you, I’d be inclined to interject.
Stickers don’t change the answers.
Lots of cars can’t raise the wipers anymore because they are hidden under the hood’s trailing edge, you have to park the wipers in the up position from the driver’s seat, then get out and lift them.
Short answer: If it isn’t yours, don’t touch it. The owner of that car is an adult and they can make their own choices.
This is only one step away from the HOA Karen that goes around “helping” by documenting all minor rules violations.
Mind your own business.
No. You don’t touch other people’s stuff. Unless there is a threat to life involved.
I’ve had more than one car that would get damaged paint from trying to lift the wipers.
Here’s the deal: you never touch my car, and I’ll always stop and offer help if you’re in trouble.
Close an open window, door or trunk that has been left open in rain sure. Heck I might even fold the top on a very simple convertible like my ’71 beetle I used to own. I guess I’m a sometimes
I’ve closed trunks that were left open, seemingly on accident. Felt like the more helpful choice.
Somewhat unrelated— maybe adjacent. I fly a lot and use one of the Detroit metro remote lots. A shuttle driver told me (after witnessing me close a car door someone left open) that people parked along the fence line sometimes leave a door or trunk open. Animals move in quickly and ‘remove’ nesting material.
In such cases, closing the door does seem like the more ethical trolley track.
Don’t touch my car…ever!!!
I broke the wiper off of my parent’s Jeep doing this, in my driveway, while clearing off snow. Thankfully they were my parents so not pissed when I had to buy a new one, so needless to say, I won’t ever be doing it to a stranger’s car.
…It’s the sort of question that has torn families apart for centuries……….
Faulty premise.
gm garbage and i believe Ford and FCA wiper design did NOT allow the wiper to stay —up-. The detent or metal cut was not added. Hold in mind that 30-40 years ago the bug 3 had ~~80% of the market. So those people could ask that question-they didnt have that option