Studded Tires

Q: My question is twofold:

1. At what point is it illegal to continue driving with studded winter tires? Is there a specific date by which they must be removed? Does it depend on road conditions? (ie/ the Coquihalla if I'm still driving back and forth?)

2. I remove the studs from my winter tires after two years of winter driving, and then use them in the summer. Is this legal and safe?

A: Studded tires have generated much controversy over the years. Some provinces and states have banned or have specific regulations for the use of studded tires. There is documented correlation between studded tires and road safety.

Approved traction tires have at least an eighth of an inch of tread and are labeled "Mud and Snow," "M+S," "MS," "All Season," or have a "Mountain/Snowflake," symbol. These tires can be used year-round. Studded tires are approved traction tires but are only legal between October 1 and April 30 of the following year.

The issues surrounding the use of studded tires are basically threefold. First is the issue of safety. On untreated icy roads at or near freezing (32ºF) studded tires do provide some measure of improved stopping ability, but during winter months these (glare ice) road conditions occur less than 1 percent of the time.

However, under wet driving conditions the stopping ability of vehicles equipped with studded tires is actually reduced. Tire studs reduce the full contact between a tire's rubber compound and the pavement. Research on studded tires, some dating back to the 1970's, consistently shows that vehicles equipped with studded tires require a longer stopping distance on wet or dry pavement than do vehicles equipped with standard tires.

A particular concern about the use of studded tires in areas where motorist are exposed to more wet conditions than icy or glazed road conditions. Motorists using studded tires should be aware of the safety issues regarding studded tire performance in wet condition.

The second issue is the accelerated pavement damage done to roadways by studded tires. The abrasion on pavement surfaces caused by studded tires wears down pavement at a much greater rate than do other types of tires.
According to studies, studded tires 'scratch-away' at roadway surfaces, decreasing the average life cycle of a pavement surface by about four years. The resulting added levels of annual pavement rehabilitation cost are estimated at millions per year. Most damage is in the form of rutting. Rutting can lead to hydroplaning, reduced visibility, and loss of directional control.

The third major issue surrounding studded tires is based on studded tire usage, when are the tires used and where. Different laws throughout Canada and the United States have had a long and difficult debates over the use of studded tires. Decision makers find it difficult to determine a standard for studded tire use since weather conditions, travel patterns, and consumer trends, vary between motorists in different regions.

In answer to your second question, yes you are permitted to remove the studs from the tires and continue to use them.

Studded tires
Prohibition
19.03 (1) No person shall drive or operate on a highway
(a) a vehicle equipped with solid tires, the thickness of which between the rim of the wheel and the surface of the highway is less than 32 mm, or
(b) a vehicle having wheels, tires or tracks constructed or equipped with projecting spikes, cleats, ribs, clamps, flanges, lugs or other attachments or projections, which extend beyond the tread or traction surface of the wheel, tread or track, but such a vehicle may be driven or operated on a highway not having a cement-concrete, asphaltic-concrete, bituminous treated or other stabilized or wooden surface.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the use of tire chains of reasonable proportions on a motor vehicle when required for safety.
(3) Subsection (1) (b) does not prohibit the use, at any time between October 1 in one year and April 30 in the next year, of studs that do not protrude more than 3.5 mm from the tread or traction surface of a tire, if
(a) there are not more than a total of 130 studs in the tire if it is a tire for a motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight of not more than 4 600 kg, or 175 studs in the tire if it is a tire for a motor vehicle having a greater gross vehicle weight, and
(b) no studs are used in a tire on the front wheel of a motor vehicle unless each rear wheel has at least one studded tire, but this paragraph does not apply to a truck with a licensed gross vehicle weight of 9 100 kg or more and which is equipped with a device to allow the installation of a snowplough.

Constable R.A.(Richard) ASELTON
Central Okanagan Traffic Services - Media Liaison
Kelowna R.C.M.P. Detachment

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.