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Winter tires saved the day

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Stevewoods, Dec 24, 2022.

  1. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Along the West Coast -- California, Oregon, Washington, until you get far enough inland to hit the major mountain ranges -- Sierras Siskiyous, Trinity Alps, Cascades, snow is normally just a novelty. It might snow a few inches, often heavy and wet. It then melts off in a day or two, unless you have some elevation, above say 2100 feet.

    So, the people take snow days and go out and enjoy it for a day or two. Every several years, a heavy snow hits the coastal belt and the snow piles up and after a day or two people whine and complain. By then, the municipal powers send out some heavy equipment -- usually, not always, and push it aside.

    in the major mountain ranges, it's different. Road crews keep the major highways plowed and sanded. That's where you see the tire chains, usually,
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    East coast is in the tail winds of the interior deep freeze.
     
  3. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Just as an aside, several years ago in my son's city in Oregon, they had one of those "heavy snows" where the streets were pretty impassable by passenger cars for a couple of days. While they kept the few MAJOR streets and the route to the hospital cleared, the rest of the city was snowed in.

    After a couple of days, the novelty wore off and people started to whine. Next city council meet, lots of those whiners showed and whined some more. Next MINOR storm, the city sent out sand trucks, cats, whatever they had. They ended up scraping off all the reflective "botts dots" on the streets. Guess what the next whine was and guess who paid...
     
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    When SUVs became the new must-have thing to conquer foul mountain road conditions here back in the 1990s, they quickly claimed parking preference in the ditches. But early this century they began sharing such parking somewhat more equitably.

    Out here, outside the Puget Sound lowlands and the I-5 corridor and a handful of major cities elsewhere, I can't imagine the percentage of lands that are within incorporated municipal government reaching double digits. Many counties probably don't even reach 1%.

    Roads in unincorporated areas not maintained by the state DOT, or by the feds (the largest landowner), are maintained by the local highway districts or counties.
     
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  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I did a little more digging on the unorganized territory (UT) and found out something I did not know before. As turned out US and Canada are very unique in that a large portion of land has no local governing structure thus unincorporated. In other countries, this is very rare. However, within the US, there are 8 states that have no or very little unincorporated area within the states. All 8 states are eastern states, and 5 of them are New England states. Maine is the only NE state which has large unincorporated areas, despite a much smaller portion than some other states such as yours.

    I did not know about this. And since I have not lived or traveled outside of our own incorporated town and city systems, I have no idea how the roads are maintained in those unincorporated areas. Yep, if I live in those places, then I may have to have chains on my car all winter long.

    Unincorporated area - Wikipedia
    Unincorporated regions are essentially nonexistent in eight of the northeastern states. All of the land in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, and nearly all of the land in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, is part of an incorporated area of some type.
     
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  6. farmecologist

    farmecologist Senior Member

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    After driving in Minnesota winter weather for decades in all sorts of vehicles with and without snow tires, I can safely say that almost *any* set of snow tires are better in snow/ice than *any* all season tire. However, snow tires do wear much faster, etc...

    WIth that said, by far the best all season I have tried in snow/ice is the Michelin CrossClimate 2. They truly are special in that they really do *approach* a snow tire....at least in the flatlands here in Minnesota. (y) Disclaimer though...I have no experience driving in the winter in mountainous areas.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    To expand upon that, I noticed the traction tire regulations that were posted for some states had a maximum wear limit than what is in place for year round tires. That is, the minimum tread depth for a snow tire to be legal when traction tires were required was like four times the minimum tread depth to pass a safety inspection.
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah I've heard recommendation of 6/32" minimum tread depth for winter tires.
     
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  10. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    In the USA, I always used the top of Lincoln's head on the penny as the limit for "normal tires" and the top of Washington's on the "quarter" as the limit for winter tires, Of course, some disagree.

    6 car care myths and mistakes - Mistake: Honest Abe knows when you need new tires (5) - CNNMoney.com

    And Consumer Reports goes a bit "deeper"

    Make Sure Your Tires Have Enough Tread for a Snowy Winter  - Consumer Reports

    To be quite honest, if it's late spring or summer. Good old Abe is good enough, but if it is early spring or fall is at hand, Abe is not enough for my all-seasons
     
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Spring for a tread depth gauge, $4~5 lol.
     
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  12. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    I actually have a gauge. It's in the tool shed, quarters and pennies are in my pocket. :)
     
  13. Isaac Zachary

    Isaac Zachary Senior Member

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    That's what Colorado's Passenger Vehicle Traction Law states, that you must have 6/32" tread depth. Some highways have this law all winter long.

    Also that law states they must be all-season or winter tires, with the exception of an AWD or 4WD vehicle. Then it can have summer tires and 6/32" tread. Personally I think that having summer tires in bad winter weather is a bad idea on any vehicle, but the law is the law.
     
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  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Just curious. Do they enforce this winter tire tread law? I know regular tire tread law for the legal limit of 2/32" is somewhat enforceable by requiring annual safety inspection. But how do they check for winter tires have 6/32”?
     
  15. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Mine was under two dollars

    I suspect it is mostly enforced after a crash with an additional fine.
     
  16. Isaac Zachary

    Isaac Zachary Senior Member

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    That's what I've heard, after a crash it's checked as part of the investigation, which can cause a fine, points taken off the license, or even be used to accuse of causing the accident.
     
  17. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I guess that could be a deterrent for some but hardly a preventive measure.
     
  18. Isaac Zachary

    Isaac Zachary Senior Member

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    4WD trucks stuck on the side of the pass being passed by a Prius is a deterrent.
     
  19. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    That is mostly how our chain law is enforced now, though including cases of just getting stuck and needing a tow or other assistance.

    Once upon a time we had occasional chain checkpoints too, but the rate at which they were trying to wave vehicles through or sending back precluded any possibility of tread depth checks.
     
  20. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Check tread depth and pressure once per month. I know, tread depth is probably obsessive. If we could just get the govt to stop mandating stupid rules like TPMS, I would be happier and have more $$ to spend on -- well something.
    kris