technology

for me it was the fuel tank skid plate that got that treatment, on the side of the interstate, after it randomly started sagging, catching the wind, and scraping the road as I drove.

And it was copper wire which I later replaced with galvanized strap.

or numerous other fixes that were similar. I don't do much driving these days but I've had a good number of shitboxes over the years

And honestly with how dangerous it is to walk on the icy sidewalks (again no municipal clearing and not much enforcement on property owners who don't clear snow/ice), bike on the icy roads in mixed traffic with cars, etc. I have a hard time blaming people for choosing to let the car get smashed up instead of their body...

I'm young and more or less healthy and pretty cautious and I've still had a couple gnarly falls walking in the winter (ice on sidewalk on a hill, ice hidden underneath snow, etc.) Luckily I didn't sustain any serious injury but someone older or less lucky would have. And it did break some electronics in my bag. And that's not like I'm trekking miles and miles, those were mostly just walking to the bus or somewhere in my neighborhood (1 mile max)

No falls on my bike yet but it'll probably happen eventually. I have studded tires on it thankfully. I might have to get some slip on studs for my boots too.