Petition for legislation for winter and all season tyres

[matelot]

Tbh, I think if people had winter tyres it would mean they are more likely to go out in snowy conditions. 

 

Let's face it. The safest thing to do when it's snowy is to stay in the house and get the fire roaring. Anything that gives people the idea that it's safe to drive to Asda is probably a bad idea....

 

Dont get me wrong. If you regularly need to drive in snow you should get winter tyres (and 4wd). However for most of us it's just not worth it.

[Paul in the woods]

It's also worth pointing out a fair bit of the UK doesn't get much snow or ice, it's not been icy where I live this winter and I would be rather annoyed to be forced to use winter tyres that wouldn't perform as well as a summer tyre.

[Gary Prentice]

It would be an easier decision if we actually got regular continual snow. 

I went out Friday morning and needed four wheel drive to get 500m to the main road, ice under fresh snow. 

For my three mile drive over slush, with icy patches I stayed in 4WD. 

Returning home a couple of hrs later, the roads were just wet.

 

we probably only average 4-5 snow days all winter. 

[djbobbins]

Having lived in Germany for a bit and been mandated to have winter tyres, we have kept them and swap them on and wife's car between about the end of November and early March. I know of people that get the tyres swapped into the same set of rims but this means going to a fitter twice a year; we bought a s/h set of steel rims and had the winter tyres fitted - it takes about 45 minutes to do all four corners at home.

The difference on snow is great (even though the tyres are down to about 4mm tread) but it's not just about snow and ice. Everyone know that feeling of driving on a wet, cold winter's night where the vehicle starts to feel a bit skittish? Much less so with winter tyres, owing to the softer compound. I have tried to make the same argument to our Fleet guys at work but all they see is £cost so they don't want to rock the boat.

Once the winter tyres are bought, there's no real additional cost for my set-up as a vehicle only uses one set of wheels at a time. I can see, however, that owners of older cars might struggle with the cost of buying an extra set of wheels and tyres. Therefore, I personally think every new vehicle should be sold either with all season tyres or with a set of winter wheels and tyres. Even if manufacturers chose to do it as a spare set, the costs would be fairly marginal compared to the price of the new vehicle. It could then be law that every vehicle registered after [date] would have to be equipped with suitable tyres when the temperature dropped below 5 degrees. The winter tyres or all season tyres could stay with the car and be replaced like for like during its life.

I doubt it will ever happen but I live in hope!

[Haironyourchest]

What about tyre chains, any good? Anybody tried them? Problem with tyres is they chemically delaminate after about 5 years, weather you drive on them or not. Chances of a blowout multiply exponentially after 6 years, and yet the rubber can look perfect. Most people will use up their tread inside of 5 or 6 years anyway, so its no loss, but if you buy two sets of tyres, you're effectively losing half of each set to entropy. Thus, I would mention chains again. Or here's an idea - tyre sharing - you rent a set of winters for the cold season, return them in spring, then they ship them to the southern hemisphere as the winter kicks off there.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Haironyourchest

[Justme]

Why do people confuse winter tyres with the need for snow or ice?

But we only have X days snow per year etc etc.

If the air temp is below 7c then they are better.

Its that simple.

[Paul in the woods]

38 minutes ago, Justme said:

Why do people confuse winter tyres with the need for snow or ice?

But we only have X days snow per year etc etc.

If the air temp is below 7c then they are better.

Its that simple.

Well winter tyres tend to be advertised for snow so hardly surprising.

 

Do you have a graph that compares summer and winter tyres over a temp range? I've had a quick look and couldn't find anything, I did notice advice that said don't fit winter tyres until it's below 7°C which means for most of the winter I shouldn't fit them so making them mandatory would be daft.

[Justme]

The makers spec them as needed / better below 7c.

 

Most make the distinction that they are not snow tyres but winter tyres.

 

In the UK the mean air temp is below 7c for more than you think.

Edited December 31, 2017 by Justme

[Justme]

This link says its below 7c from Dec to March in England.

 

I would expect Wales & Scotland to be longer.

 

http://projectbritain.com/weather/average.htm

Edited December 31, 2017 by Justme

[Justme]

This link says that since 1910 the yearly ave mean temp is not much more than 7c all year.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/610134/mean-air-temperature-uk/