False starts

I got up early to go rowing this morning. My plan was to drive to the boatyard, stopping to get gas on my way there, driving instead of biking so I could get a little more sleep and deal with gas early instead of sometime later in the day. The last time I drove, one of the students noticed that a piece of plastic that is supposed to protect the undercarriage was sagging:



Driving to the gas station, I could hear the plastic starting to drag and scrape. While filling up, I also thought I saw lightning, so that was all it took to convince me to turn around and head back to the house instead of continuing to the boatyard.

I am thinking to attempt a repair with some tie wire. I'm also curious to know whether something like this might have resulted from a mechanic forgetting to reattach some screws or clips. I could also easily see it as being the result of general wear-and-tear, although I am pretty certain that I haven't scraped the undercarriage on this car.

Remind me again, why do people own cars?