I remember my father cleaning the windshield and head lights at the gas station to remove dead insects every time he filled up the tank. That was in the sixties. I almost never do that.
Has anyone considered that "no more bugs on windscreen" is an expected effect of the vastly improved aerodynamics of cars since the 1960s? On a modern car (anything made in the past 15-20 years), the windshield is swept such that it's almost parallel to the airflow, so it would be very hard for bugs to hit it.
I'm not saying whether or not there are less insects, just that this is a huge confounding factor.
Perhaps someone who frequently takes classic cars for long trips at highway speeds can chime in?
About 5-10 years ago you could see the difference between a German highway or any other Eastern European highway. In my experience there was much less bug splatter in Germany than in Hungary. It was so well known in my family that this being a recent headliner surprised me a lot. I guess it's not that easy to count those pesky little insects :).
I actually notice a lot more bugs when I have driven a longish stretch of Autobahn in Germany. My guess is that it is due to the higher speeds. Driving elsewhere is 100-130 kmph, on the autobahn it regularly is 180-240 kmph. Catches the little buggers by surprise :D
> Perhaps someone who frequently takes classic cars for long trips at highway speeds can chime in?
We own a 1981 VW Vanagon. It's a camper, it travels. 8-9 hours to see the eclipse this summer, as just one example. These days, I clean the windshield more to get the dirt off than remove the bugs. Anecdotal, but hey, you asked. :-)
I drive a Scion xB, which has the aerodynamic efficiency of a toaster. When I bought it in 2005, the huge amount of bugs that the windshield caught was one of the few things I didn't like about the car.
I'd estimate conservatively that during the past few summers, driving in the same areas, I see at least one third fewer splats than I did a decade ago. However, the area I live in has also had a big growth in sprawl, with lots of new housing developments especially, and that is almost certainly a factor.
I drive a Scion xB, which has the aerodynamic efficiency of a toaster. When I bought it in 2005, the huge amount of bugs that the windshield caught was one of the few things I didn't like about the car.
Hello, fellow '05 owner! And yup, all I have to add is "me, too", because our experience has been identical.
As one last anecdotal data point to add to our VW and Scion, I keep a can of cleaner in the motorcycle tank bag to clean the helmet face shield. I used to buy stuff packs of three. Lately, I think I'm still on the can I bought three years ago. I used to also keep a little scrubby sponge in the tank bag for those extra stubborn bugs. I haven't used that thing in so long I don't even know where it's at anymore.
