The legality of studded snowtires

That's too bad. The Prius with studded tires combined with TRAC/VSC is basically a tank. That is an interesting legal situation you have in MI. Studded tires most definitely accelerate road wear. In Anchorage, where studded tires are legal between the end of September through the end of April, most of the heavily travelled streets actually have ruts, though this is a combination of studded tires and poor road construction practices. In Norway*, and perhaps a few other Scandinavian countries, studded tires are mandatory during winter months.

*Of course they are evil socialists who believe in things like infrastructure maintanence. <sarcasm>

 

Can't you make your own certificate? :madgrin:

 

Like we do out here with CARB certificates right...

 

Tom

I've said it before, and I will say it again:

MOVE!

Before you go brain dead and/or insane dealing with this bulls***

The factory studded Nokians are good enough to meet the picky MTO requirements for studded tires in Ontario. They finally grew a brain at the MTO and recognized that Scandinavian studded tires are engineered to minimize road damage

"Yes, it's legal but there is no legal supplier"

Insert diabolical State of Michigan evil laughter

jay

 

One reason why the MTO in Ontario finally relaxed the ban was due to "new" evidence that the road wear was JUST AS HIGH with the studded tire ban

Eg: a certain street in Toronto had heavily rutted wear after a few years, needing repaving every few years. That was part of the "evidence" used to successfully push the ban through

Three decades later, with 100% compliance for the studded ban, guess what? That same street was wearing even faster! Poor quality road construction, and a shift from lighter cars to heavier pickups and SUV's, is causing road wear

I've posted links and studies from the VTI, the Swedish road research institute. They have concluded that studded tires cause "minor" road wear, but the safety advantages far outweigh the minor road wear increase

Some purport that studded tires also cause pollution problems, eg the studs abrade the road surface, increasing PM10. VTI studied this and concluded the use of sand on icy roads caused a dramatic increase in winter PM10.

I'm sure all of us who live in real winter conditions, have driven on roads in dry weather that were just hazy with suspended dust from dried salt/sand application

I'm a believer in studded tires. They offer substantial increases in glare ice traction. On my FJ I'm ditching the Toyo Open Country G-02 Plus winter tires for factory studded Nokian winter tires

 

I always used studded tires on my Civic in winter in ND. Made a big difference. The Prius didn't seem to need them, so I never bothered putting them on it. I did get stuck in a parking lot once this winter: very dense packed but loose snow. Winter treads probably would have made a bigger difference than studs would have. I've only ever used all-season tires on the Prius.

Once in Fargo, however, I was rear-ended: My Civic with the studded tires stopped for a stop sign at a slippery intersection. The car in back of me didn't stop.

 

Daniel

Ironically, that happened to me several weeks ago with my FJ. Just put on new Fab Fours front and rear bumpers (Massive steel things, may have to upgrade the suspension to handle the extra weight), had some freezing rain

I have studless winter tires on my FJ, managed to stop at a red light with little drama. Suddenly BUMP and I thought Wth?

A ricer behind me neatly slid into my rear bumper. Huge puddle of coolant under his front end, front plastic bumper and other parts all shattered, hood crinkled, etc. Barely a scratch on my rear bumper

He was running "all season" tires. Did thousands in damage to his car. I may have to get a spray bomb of black paint and touch up the scratch on my bumper