I don't understand the logic

Every winter we get weather reports predicting freezing rain/sleet and every winter I see dozens of vehicles in parking lots with their windshield wipers up in the air, pulled away from the windshield.   I don't have any idea why people do this or what benefit it provides to them.

I grew up in western Pennsylvania near Lake Erie (aka "the lake effect snow capital of the world).  A typical winter in this part of the country consists of snow from early November to mid April, with average snow accumulations of 120 inches during the season.  We would also get our share of freezing rain and sleet.  I remember one winter where two feet of snow was on the ground and a layer of three inch thick ice was on top of that.  Now, during my 20 some years growing up in Pennsylvania not once did I see anyone do this with their windshield wipers.

Maybe Pennsylvanians are just stupid or maybe the windshield wiper lifter-uppers (WWLUs) know something about ice and windshield wipers that we didn't know about.  My guess is that WWLUs are just trying to speed up the amount of time it takes to remove ice from their windshields or they think they are "cheating" the system in some way.

What I think that most WWLUs miss, is the fact that the windshield wipers are the closest thing besides the windshield to the defrosting unit.  So, if you turn on your car, then go out to remove the snow and ice, by the time you are done your windshield wipers will be free of ice and free from sticking to the windshield.  Maybe I'm wrong and maybe these WWLUs have an edge on the rest of us, but my true feeling is that this is a silly practice that doesn't really save time.

Tell me what you think.