Preparations, including H

Recently I noticed a sign that asked: “Is Your Car Prepared for Winter?” It’s not really something I had considered until then. I assume my car is prepared for winter. It is out there all the time, it has seen the leaves fall from the trees, it has felt the cool air blowing around its slightly deflated tires. While it is true I have not expressly gone out to my trusty old Honda and explained, in a reassuring tone, using calming and non-threatening language that winter is indeed coming, I would speculate that the old girl has guessed that once again, winter is upon us. This will be my car’s 18th winter, after all. So, in answer to the sign; yes, my car is prepared for winter, but by no specific actions I have taken.

My ancient CR-V understands winter no more than it understands a haiku. But it is properly maintained every season of the year, so winter poses no more concern than do bird droppings. I have no doubt that when June or July is doing its best to suffocate us with heat and humidity, the same sign will ask if my car is prepared for summer. It begs the question, how does a car prepare for anything?

Of course, I understand the meaning of the sign is not a concern for my old car, it is a concern for the profit of the businesses who owns the sign. Normal maintenance is enough to prepare your car for any meteorological incident. Modern cars are extraordinarily reliable. What used to take an experienced technician hours is handled instantly and transparently by a computer. Therefore my lack of mechanical sympathy is a direct product of the modern digital age. In the recent past, it was more important to prepare for climatic changes. For instance, Russia has never been successfully invaded, not because if a fierce national defense system, but because it is a cold, desolate place.  All the Russians have to do to win a war is to wait for winter. Invading Mongolians froze on their horses. Hitler’s blitzkrieg ground to a halt in the sub-zero Siberian planes. Dissidents and American spies had no hope of escape from a Soviet gulag. Preparing for winter may have been a life-and-death proposal in before the 1980’s, but it is now no more than a nuisance. As long as your battery and coolant are healthy, your car will operate normally, no matter what the weather.

However, winter carries its own risks completely unrelated to automobile maintenance. Maybe the sign should ask “Are You Prepared For Winter?” Mechanical overconfidence can have disastrous results, especially for the unprepared driver. For instance, in the early 90’s GM made anti-lock brakes standard equipment on all of its vehicles. Instead of improving safety, it resulted in many more GM cars being involved in accidents. It seems drivers assumed ABS would solve any problem, and drove more aggressively than they had previously. Computer driven vehicle stability control can not overcome ignorance.

Technology has now progressed to the point that many new cars are “uncrashable.” The safety systems will apply brakes and steer to avoid potential accidents, regardless of the wishes of the driver. These systems are even sophisticated enough to operate proficiently in snow and ice, compensating for a lower coefficient of friction automatically. There are also fully autonomous, self-driving cars which operate perfectly in all conditions. Some work better than others, with Tesla clearly leading the field. So, as far as irrelevant things go, winter preparations may be near the top of the list. A full fuel tank, spare blanket, and a bottle or two of water might be a good idea, but I am confident that your car will not care about the forecast in the least.