Snow tires? Life-changing!
By Lynne Bell
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听听听听听听听听听听听 Sometimes, I approach writing this column with caution and restraint. Although it's meant to be a lighthearted-and hopefully, entertaining read-Kelly and I are often put in the position of defending or听 disagreeing with a point of view that is not in alignment with our true feelings on the topic(s) in question. And even though there's a disclaimer in print that states; 鈥淭he views expressed in 'Seeing Things Differently' are for discussion purposes and are not necessarily the views of the writers,鈥� I still find myself hedging my bets on the side of caution, with one eye on future Google searches. (I know, I know, I flatter myself...)
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, I have come up with a topic this week that I am passionate about: snow tires.
听听听听听听听听听听听 They are, in my humble opinion, life-changing (yes, really!) and although I sometimes strongly disagree with too much government regulation, I think we should all have 'em. And I also don't think it's out of line to legally require drivers to have them installed on their vehicles during the winter months in most parts of this country.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Currently, Quebec is the only province in Canada where drivers are required by law to have winter tires installed on their vehicles (between December 15 and March 15 every year).
听听听听听听听听听听听 I won't bore you with statistics, but let's just say that this legal requirement has not made anyone a less-safe driver on La Belle Province's winter roads.
听听听听听听听听听听听 And now that I've spared you potentially boring stats, dear reader, I will bore you with my personal experience driving with proper winter tires. In Calgary, I slid around for years, white-knuckling it with all-season tires on slippery city streets. When I finally converted to snow tires, the difference-and stopping distance-was amazing.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Think of snow tires as winter boots for your vehicle. Would you go out for a winter stroll on icy, snowy roads with a pair of summer sandals? I thought not. Snow tires are the automotive equivalent of wearing a great pair of winter boots, complete with grips. They'll get you where you need to go-safely and with much less stress.
听听听听听听听听听听听 A safety check is already required to licence a vehicle in this province and inspection tickets are handed out for all kinds of things-including relatively trivial stuff such as window tint. Snow tires are comparable to seatbelts, as far as enhancing safety. Not only will they lessen your chance of an accident, your winter driving experience will be, well, life-changing.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Take my word for it.
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Before legislating look to educating
By Kelly Running
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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The other day Lynne came into my office quite excited. She had something she felt very strongly about and wanted to address it in this week鈥檚 pro/con discussion: winter tires.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Obviously she wanted to argue for them being legislated into having to have, so I laughed, and said I鈥檇 take her on in the debate.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, should it be legislated that winter tires be mandatory? Well, no. Winter tires are an extreme cost, yes they do grip better, it鈥檚 what they鈥檙e made for, but a good set of all-season tires and an alert driver behind the wheel is all it really takes.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Back when I was first learning to drive, in fact it was when I had my learner鈥檚 licence, dad would toss me the keys and tell me I was driving. Whether it was good weather, muddy grid roads (without much gravel where we lived), or snowy/icy roads, I got the keys. Dad鈥檚 a great teacher and I learned how to drive on ice and snow to the point that if I start fishtailing in my truck while driving I keep calm and get back on point. Moving between neutral and drive is second nature while stopping in icy/snowy conditions.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So, instead of forcing a costly thing like winter tires on us, which have to be changed before the first snowfall and taken off in the spring, and have to be replaced after they鈥檝e been worn out, why not teach Canadian driving lessons instead. Find a place to drive on ice, have people actually learn in a safe environment how to handle a vehicle and correct it if something goes wrong.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The end of the year comes with bills rolling in and gifts to be bought, it鈥檚 not a time to be looking at a costly legislated item forced upon you.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檓 told winter tires are an amazing thing, which they probably are and I鈥檝e talked about getting them, but I have good all-season tires and am confident in being able to handle my vehicle on the road.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Quebec was the first province where snow tires were made into being mandatory. They must be on your vehicle from Dec. 15, to March 15 of the following year. Some of B.C. has followed suit. But, people who are nervous drivers can become overconfident with winter tires on. They don鈥檛 make you invincible on snow and ice, and a winter driving school may be more beneficial than forcing people to get winter tires.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 By creating winter driving classes instead, we educate people, and after they know what they鈥檙e doing it鈥檒l stick with them throughout their life. It would be a onetime cost to vehicle owners, which in rural areas is pretty much everyone 16-years-old and up, and not a cost you continually have to be budgeting for.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Lessons would be on avoiding sudden braking, travelling with more distance between you and the vehicle in front of you than usual, and signalling earlier to let people know your intentions so they don鈥檛 come up quickly from somewhere expecting you to be doing something when you planned something else.
听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听All in all, winter tires are an awesome idea to purchase once the leaves start falling and the temperatures drop, but should the government really be able to force you into buying them?听
