Mollie and I attended an event last night in downtown Toronto. She had parked at Finch Station and taken the subway to meet me, as I was already downtown after taking the morning GO Train. Going home at 9:00 pm, we were hit by the snow storm that engulfed much of the area, eventually slowing to a crawl with cars doing 50 km/h in single file on the 404 as we approached the Aurora exit. We were very thankful that we had changed to our snow tires a couple weeks earlier, before the first snowfall.
Which brings me to my point. Why are so many people driving around in winter weather without snow tires? This is Canada people! It snows! Avoid driving in the snow if you can, but for Pete’s sake, get some proper boots on that car! You are endangering yourself, your passengers, and the rest of us as well.
It’s not that I’m saying that snow tires make everything completely safe. They don’t. There is no substitute for proper care when driving and slowing down to accomodate conditions. Driving is an inherenly unsafe activity and snow tires make it only marginally safer.
So we were speculating about why people don’t have proper winter tires. Here’s the list we came up with:
“I don’t have snow tires because of the added expense.” I don’t buy this argument. First, there is no added expense over the life of the vehicle as you need tires for every kilometre you travel, so having winter tires just offset’s km’s that you would otherwise be putting on your summer tires. Second, for a car that sells new for a price of $18,000 to _____ (insert sky high price here), you’re going to quibble over $700 and risk your life?
“Even if it does make long term sense, I just don’t have the cash to lay out.” Maybe this argument has some merit for all of the low income people out there, those that can afford to drive in the first place, who are running around in the cheapest car they can put on the road, but I don’t buy it when I see any car above $20,000 without proper tires. Did you take the cost of insurance, fuel and maintenance into account when deciding what car to buy? Then why not the cost of snow tires?
“I have all-season tires, so I’m OK for winter driving.” In the words of Colonel Sherman Potter, “Horse Hockey!” Spoken like a person who has never driven with snow tires and experienced the difference. All-Season tires are a misnomer. They do not replace proper snow tires. As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t allow this naming for tires that do not, in fact, work well in snow and only serve to confuse the issue.
“I have four wheel drive, so I’m OK in the snow.” While 4wd may help you go in the snow, and may even help you steer a bit better, it does pretty much zero for your ability to stop. Surely the best combo is 4wd and snow tires, but I’d be the last one to advocate widespread use of inefficient 4wd when front wheel drive, snow tires, and proper driving care will do the job.
The lack of snow tires raises other questions as well. Just some things to make you wonder.
- Why don’t insurance companies insist on snow tires and charge higher premiums if you don’t have them?
- Would it make sense for insurance companies to deny coverage if you are involved in a winter accident and you didn’t have snow tires? (This could equally apply to those people who run around in the summer with bald tires.)
- Would it make sense for charges to be laid or fines to be higher for the situations above?
- Why don’t car dealerships just sell cars with 8 tires, not as an option, but just part of the base package?
- Why don’t car companies who lease cars insist on snow tires for those vehicles?
- Why do we mandate the use of seatbelts for safety and not snow tires?
I’m trying to see the downside in these ideas. Car companies would flow the cost through. Insurance companies would have fewer claims. Dealerships would have a booming business changing tires twice per year for people who can’t or won’t do their own. There could even be companies that change the tires and store your other set for you if you have no space. I’ve already stated why it’s not really a higher cost for people. And people would be safer. Sure, tow truck drivers might lose a bit of business, but I can’t see them being a huge lobby group and there’s lots of people who drive stupid-aggressive in the winter to keep them busy.
Most importantly, the police would have fewer families to inform of the tragic, preventable death of a loved one.
What do you think? Should we somehow be mandating the use of snow tires? Let me know.
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Interesting topic. In most of Canada, snow tires can certainly help, but there are certainly parts where I don’t see the point (Victoria, BC perhaps). There are even areas in Ontario that do get very little snow. Burlington/Hamilton and along the lakeshore below the escarpment can go an entire winter with only a couple of days with much snow on the ground. If I did all of my driving in these regions (my grandparents used to fall into this category), I don’t think I’d want to bother with snow tires. Driving around on dry pavement with snow tires can really wear out the tires quickly.
I can also see difficulties with travelling through different juristictions. If Ontario implements a snow tire requirement, would a tourist driving in from Quebec or New York be required to change their tires at the border?
I think the way I would prefer to handle such an initiative would be as an incentive through insurance, and have it further based on where you live. E.g. if you install snow tires, you get an insurance discount. If you live in Barrie, the discount you receive is larger than the discount someone living in Burlington would receive, to reflect the differences in the need for the snow tires. Insurance is already variable based on where you live now for other factors, so this could simply be another component. I’m sure the statisticians at the insurance companies can assess the risks and come up with a rating system.
The insurance incentive method also would not create any extra police or MTO enforcement bureaurcracy either. However, you would still need a mechanism to prove to the insurance company that you’re actually installing them every winter. No system is perfect, but I would like to keep any system simple as possible.
Sorry Glenn, we don’t have snow tires, although we are considering it. However, there are added expenses – for example getting them changed twice a year as you mentioned, plus storage of the extra tires for people like us who live in a basement apartment and have nowhere to put 4 extra tires. I also would be interested in knowing if any studies have been done on whether snow tires actually make for safer driving – people I know rave about how great snow tires are and how they can drive “just like in the summer” (i.e. agressively), whereas I drive more defensively in the snow because I have all-seasons. Having said that, if I could offset the costs in insurance savings that would be an incentive. You make some good points that we’ll consider. But beware the slippery slope: Do the same arguments apply to anti-lock brakes? Or heated side mirrors? Or 4-wheel drive? Or traction control? These features improve driving safety; should they all be mandatory?
I was out in that snow last night – it was horrible, white-out conditions and ice on the road. Yuck! I took today off rather than go on the highway again.
I remember hearing a few years ago that all-seasons lose all utility once the temperature drops below -5C due to the composition of the rubber.
Mahler at the Star puts the temperature where all-season start to lose function at 7C (although it apparently depends on the quality of your tire). http://www.wheels.ca/article/20001
Apparently Quebec is considering a snow tire law.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/personal-transportation/winter-tires.html
Glad you guys made it home safe.
I had winter (snow) tires put on my car last week after resisting for years. It does make a difference. The car stays on the road better in white outs, icy roads and snow drifts. It is also more likely to stop where I want it to and not in the other lane or ditch. The garage where I bought the tires will store the other tires.
My sister and I are very grateful that I went to the extra expense.
Haven’t tried them on dry pavement yet – there hasn’t been any! they’re OK on wet and slushy and the brakes do work a little on ice
I just bought a Mustang Convertible, and I am wondering if I shold get snow tires put on my car for the winter. I can not afford to get another car to drive, so I have no chice but to drive the Mustang in the winter, which I don’t really want to do. Does anyone have any advise on what snow tires would be best, or if they are even worth the extra money.
Thanks.