If it gets cold where you are

MouseInLux · November 2011

Do you put winter tires on you car? Is it normal to? Is it the law?

MouseInLux · November 2011

We put them on ours, even my SUV that came with all weather. Most of our friends do but last winter I found out how many people don't when they were skidding all over the road during one of the big snow falls.

Starting next year the law is changing to make them mandatory.

titicole · November 2011

They sure don't in England, and everyone complains how no one can cope in the winter. I don't see why they just call it a snow day and stay home, but unless it is like 25 cm or more, people act like it should be a normal day, when snowing in England isn't exactly normal, even if it seems like we are getting snowier winters.

MrsBini10 · November 2011

A lot of people do but not all. We don't because of the expense and because we generally drive on city streets that are fairly well cleared. When I lived in the middle of nowhere in Montana they were pretty essential! I don't think anywhere in the US actually requires them by law though.

kelly321 · November 2011

It's the law in Germany. The best is the way they measure it to check if they pull you over (or if you're in an accident) - they take out a coin (don't remember which one) and stick it in the tread. It has to go up to a certain point on the coin or it's not deep enough.

ebartzen · November 2011

I don't think it's even an issue of winter tires or not, it just seems that a lot of non-American cars have much smaller tires (I guess they are generally smaller cars to begin with). I didn't realize why everyone freaked out about a little bit of snow until I tried driving with a car in southern Europe and down here in SA. It's much harder! At least every car I ever had in the States had big, all season tires. In Canada a lot of people put on winter tires. It was the law in Quebec but not mandatory in Ontario.

Publius · November 2011

It's not the law in CH, althiugh a lot of people say that it is. What they mean is that ifyou get into an accident in the snow/winter and your car doesn't have winter tires on it your insurance won't cover the damages. Because of that we had winter tires for our car.

wise_rita · November 2011

It's law in Norway. They call the place where you store your unused-at-the-moment tires a "tire hotel", which I get a kick out of.

MintChocoChip · November 2011

Not the law here but I was just having this conversation with a co-worker this morning. I definitely want to get snow tires this year. I have a sedan and although it's front wheel drive, I was skidding in the snow last year. Dreading shlepping the tires to and from the basement though

BelgianBells · November 2011

I don't think it is the law in Belgium, but the roads absolutely suck here. They do not plow, at all!

We are going to get winter tires this year and will put them on our car around Thanksgiving. Somehow we've survived the past two winters without them, but the road in front of our house gets crazy icy.

It's just smarter to have them Smile

ctgirlingermany · November 2011

As Kelly said, its the law here. If you get in an accident in the snow and don't have snow tires, your insurance does not cover you either.

Now that I have lived here, and driven with snow tires, I'm a convert. I hate trying to drive my dad's car in Connecticut with all-seasonals in the snow, and I hate hearing everyone at home complain about how bad their car is in the snow. Snow tires just have so much more grip, and just make sense.

oneslybookworm · November 2011

We put them on our car because we drive into countries that do have a law for snow tires. We had them put on last week.

bluegirl2006 · November 2011

It's not needed here, but I grew up in Michigan and lived there until just two years ago. Many people did put snow tires on their car but it was not required. I never did. I just bought good all-purpose year round tires.

LandOBiscuit · November 2011

It's not the law in MN and I don't know what difference it would make. They work hard all winter long to keep the roads safe. I have a Chevy Cavalier with all weather tires. I had 3 snowy winters in MN and never had a problem. I would get tires that melt snow/ice on contact though. Even in -40? weather.

VABeach08 · November 2011

Naples doesn't have traffic laws. J/K.

They don't require snow tires; however, chains are required up north (believe Nov-Apr). My understanding is that you don't need to always have them on, but you need to have them in the car (so that you can put them on if it snows). I heard the fines were hefty (and the rule is enforced), so we got them last winter when we drove up to the Dolomites.

If it gets cold where you are

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