Nope, “Windshield Effects” is not the same case as “Air Traffic in Career”. The latter is reset upon reloading the sim. “Windshield Effects” is reset to “medium” immediately after leaving the settings.
I would create a bug report for this, but I can’t be bothered. It probably works fine for Martial anyway.
Edit: I don’t need to, please go vote here:
Still, my questions remain: are the bugs (insects) controlled by “Windshield effects” in the first place, and do other VR users see bugs (insects) accumulating on the windscreen, for example in the C172?