Black ice on the road and my Model S

[SwedishAdvocate]

Living in Sweden it is always with a certain amount of fascination that I read posts like the original post in this thread. In some parts of Sweden people change to proper winter tires around October 1. And it’s mandatory in all of Sweden from December 1 until March 31. When there is a risk for ice on the road, proper winter tires could save you from a serious accident if you for some reason are forced to make an evasive maneuver.

Some may call it “Nanny State” antics, but over the years it has probably saved hundreds of lives and many more serious injuries just in Sweden alone.

 

[PatP]

I totally understand as we now have a similar law in Quebec, Canada (winter tires mandatory between dec-15 to march-15). Sometimes people have to be told what to do... Saved many lives.

 

[ElectricAvenue]

I live in New Hampshire USA and we don't have any laws against not driving on snow tires in the winter. It certainly sounds like a good idea to have them because cars/trucks are at risk of injuring other if they skid in the snow. (There are possibly laws for commercial vehicles but I am not sure).
Oh and by the way, if you ride a motorbike here you do not even have to wear a helmet. This I agree with because you are only risking injuring yourself.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Arguments for and against legislation aside, I believe there still a valid argument for winter tires in winter conditions. I’m really not that versed (?) on this subject though. But if memory serves me I think there was some discussion on this topic last winter somewhere here on TMC. And it would surprise me if something like Consumer Reports doesn’t have tests where they compare all-season tires against dedicated winter tires.

Tried searching for a good video on this topic, but I actually can't seam to find one in a reasonably short amount of time. The best one I found was this one, but it compares winter tires to summer tires… That said, it does get kind of interesting at 2:59.

 

[mnx]

Oh and by the way, if you ride a motorbike here you do not even have to wear a helmet. This I agree with because you are only risking injuring yourself.

That makes zero logical sense. Why have seatbelt laws? Why is cocaine illegal?

 

[mknox]

That makes zero logical sense. Why have seatbelt laws? Why is cocaine illegal?

It's a bit different in Canada with our government paid for health care. Injuring yourself does cost us all in the form of our taxes to pay for medical care that may otherwise not be needed. I'm surprised our government doesn't outlaw certain foods for similar reasons.

 

[EdA]

That makes zero logical sense. Why have seatbelt laws? Why is cocaine illegal?

Plus, I know some first-responders who really wish more people wore motorcycle helmets. Someone has to clean up the mess!

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Arguments for and against legislation aside, I believe there still a valid argument for winter tires in winter conditions. I’m really not that versed (?) on this subject though. But if memory serves me I think there was some discussion on this topic last winter somewhere here on TMC. And it would surprise me if something like Consumer Reports doesn’t have tests where they compare all-season tires against dedicated winter tires.

Tirerack has a bunch of videos and tests of summer vs. all season vs. winter tires. Here's one on glare ice:

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=26

The all season only does marginally better than the summer tire, and no where close to the winter tire.