Should winter tyres be mandatory in the UK ?

Should winter tyres be mandatory ?

  • Yes

    Votes: 41 39.8%
  • No

    Votes: 62 60.2%

  • Total voters
    103
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Only in Scotland :) with a 12 month ban for infringement. :):)
 
If I don't drive at night then presumably its unfair to expect me to have to have lights too? Aso why do I need windscreen wipers if I don't drive in the rain?

All this I don't drive on ice/snow excuses seems to apply to all sorts of environmental facors too. I guess that some drivers have a (ice) crystal ball and just know when there will be black ice and snow?
 
If I don't drive at night then presumably its unfair to expect me to have to have lights too? Aso why do I need windscreen wipers if I don't drive in the rain?

All this I don't drive on ice/snow excuses seems to apply to all sorts of environmental facors too. I guess that some drivers have a (ice) crystal ball and just know when there will be black ice and snow?

Know what you mean...a lot of people at my wifes office got caught out last year when it started snowing heavily late afternoon without warning. Most of them did not have winter tyres and a large percentage did not make it home as a result despite trying (my wife with winter tyres did!). Thus the argument "I never use the car when it is snowing" would fall down.
 
If I don't drive at night then presumably its unfair to expect me to have to have lights too? Aso why do I need windscreen wipers if I don't drive in the rain?

All this I don't drive on ice/snow excuses seems to apply to all sorts of environmental facors too. I guess that some drivers have a (ice) crystal ball and just know when there will be black ice and snow?

Day MOT! No lights required. For bikes at least, don't know about cars.

Mainly, snow can be forecast.
Or seen quite easily on the ground before embarking on a journey.
 
Ummm... nice try but I'm not falling for that one. Summer tyres are suitable for most conditions and at present the legal tread depth for them is 1.6mm. Whilst I believe that this is too low for anything other than dry days and should be reviewed you can't penalise drivers who are following the rules.
I'm willing to bet though that far more deaths / injuries result from reduction in grip in wet conditions during the rest of the year than are caused by failure to use winter tyres. Which as far as I can see mostly results in low speed bumps and inconvenience (getting stranded).

So I don't personally get the sudden demands to make winter tyres mandatory, when there are other changes that would be far simpler to implement and would have much bigger benefits (e.g. make the minimum tread depth 3mm or whatever).
 
If I don't drive at night then presumably its unfair to expect me to have to have lights too? Aso why do I need windscreen wipers if I don't drive in the rain?

All this I don't drive on ice/snow excuses seems to apply to all sorts of environmental facors too. I guess that some drivers have a (ice) crystal ball and just know when there will be black ice and snow?

Fair point but if you own a classic or prestige car that only comes out of the garage for an occasional hack in good weather it seems a bit daft making winter tyres mandatory for it.

On the other hand if you drive every day in all weathers you should be prepared for it and have to deal with the consequences if not.
 
I'm willing to bet though that far more deaths / injuries result from reduction in grip in wet conditions during the rest of the year than are caused by failure to use winter tyres. Which as far as I can see mostly results in low speed bumps and inconvenience (getting stranded).

So I don't personally get the sudden demands to make winter tyres mandatory, when there are other changes that would be far simpler to implement and would have much bigger benefits (e.g. make the minimum tread depth 3mm or whatever).

Bill, I wouldn't disagree with much of the above and have already indicated in a previous post that I believe the 1.6mm limit is inappropriate in poor conditions and should be reviewed.

That doesn't negate the argument for winter tyres though and as I put in my last post I wouldn't have them mandatory but would have drivers who didn't use them when appropriate take more responsibility for any incident they were involved in as a result.
 
well , how about during the winter months (oct-march) if you have an accident and don't have winter tyres your excess quadruples and the fault automatically lies with the party without the correct equiptment for the weather conditions where there is any doubt. If you fit winter rubber then it stays the same and the fault is 50/50 like normal.

During the summer months it goes back to normal.

No cost to anybody and purely a gamble on everyones part if they choose to do without.
 
well , how about during the winter months (oct-march) if you have an accident and don't have winter tyres your excess quadruples and the fault automatically lies with the party without the correct equiptment for the weather conditions where there is any doubt. If you fit winter rubber then it stays the same and the fault is 50/50 like normal.

Not practical.

Just as we've had a cold spell over the last two weeks we've also had unseasonably warm winter months - I can recall particularly warm spells in November and February in my lifetime. These are less well remembered than bad cld spells because the knock on effects such as travel disruption don't occur.
 
Frankly, although I voted yes as I think it would make the roads safer... I don't care either way.

The way I see it, my car stops faster than most on the road during winter thanks to it's tyres. The moron who hits me from behind wasn't keeping a safe distance considering his summer tyres so his insurance will pay out. The chap in front wont be able to stop so theres no chance I'll ram into him...

It's self-sorting really! A bit of a pain going through all the claims, but I wont be the one mowing down a pedestrian. I've done my part - if people chose not too, c'est la vie.

For those that feel we shouldn't legislate for the few - there are people who can safely drive at 80mph in a 70... or after 3 pints of beer... but there are those that can't. So we legislate on the safe side...

M.
 
Contrary to all the hype and misleading advertising winter tyres only provide an advantage on slush and snow where their tread is designed in such a way to stop the snow 'sticking' to the tyres effectively turning them into slicks. They provide no advantage at all on ice or densely packed snow and often perform much worse than all round tyres on purely wet surfaces - especially braking distances. Keeping this in mind the complete unpredictability of our weather plus the liklihood or not of snow, more often not, it would be lunacy to make them compulsory. The legislation if sensible would have to define snow or if lazy and simply time based could force you to drive a potentially more dangerous vehicle.

In Germany where they have just this year been made a legal requirement the police this week announced their intentions to enforce the law - they'll do absolutely nothing special. They've even today branded the law as unenforceable.

In this country, such a requirement would cause more accidents and simply give insurance companies yet another get out of jail free card while costing the already criminally taxed, over legislated motorist even more.

More accidents? Absolutely. Firstly through worse performance of the tyres on non sleet/snow surfaces and secondly because of the false sense of security they'd give to bad drivers.

All in, it's a very, very bad idea.

Regards,
 
Contrary to all the hype and misleading advertising winter tyres only provide an advantage on slush and snow where their tread is designed in such a way to stop the snow 'sticking' to the tyres effectively turning them into slicks. They provide no advantage at all on ice or densely packed snow and often perform much worse than all round tyres on purely wet surfaces - especially braking distances. Keeping this in mind the complete unpredictability of our weather plus the liklihood or not of snow, more often not, it would be lunacy to make them compulsory. The legislation if sensible would have to define snow or if lazy and simply time based could force you to drive a potentially more dangerous vehicle.

In Germany where they have just this year been made a legal requirement the police this week announced their intentions to enforce the law - they'll do absolutely nothing special. They've even today branded the law as unenforceable.

In this country, such a requirement would cause more accidents and simply give insurance companies yet another get out of jail free card while costing the already criminally taxed, over legislated motorist even more.

More accidents? Absolutely. Firstly through worse performance of the tyres on non sleet/snow surfaces and secondly because of the false sense of security they'd give to bad drivers.

All in, it's a very, very bad idea.

Regards,

Sorry, but that is the most ridiculous and ill-informed post I have read concerning winter tyres! They work amazingly well on compacted snow and ice. And they perform much better on wet surfaces due to the rubber compound and tread configuration. I have personal experience of how well they perform over summer tyres.

I do agree that making it mandatory to use winter tyres is going too far but to suggest that winter tyres would cause more accidents and make your car potentially more dangerous is pure lunacy. :crazy:
 
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Contrary to all the hype and misleading advertising winter tyres only provide an advantage on slush and snow where their tread is designed in such a way to stop the snow 'sticking' to the tyres effectively turning them into slicks. They provide no advantage at all on ice or densely packed snow and often perform much worse than all round tyres on purely wet surfaces - especially braking distances.

This is complete drivel, obviously written by someone who has never even seen a winter tyre let alone driven a car with them fitted.

Russ
 
I think winter tyres should be mandatory between certain months of the year. I'm fed up of the whole country coming to a grinding halt and everyone winging about it. It works in other countries so there is no reason at all why it shouldn't work here.

Do something about it once and for all......
 
I think winter tyres should be mandatory between certain months of the year. I'm fed up of the whole country coming to a grinding halt and everyone winging about it. It works in other countries so there is no reason at all why it shouldn't work here.

Do something about it once and for all......


Maybe instead of the usual warning of "dont drive unless your journey is absolutely necessary", which tells you nothing about the roads and does not take into account your cars ability or driving skills, the warning should be, "do not take your car out unless you have winter tyres or snow chains".

And, at the first sign of heavy snow, get all the HGV's off the road unless they have them too. They caused most of the mayhem this week by blocking every main road and junction in the central belt.

Russ
 
The German option seems to be rather more sensible. Cause a traffic hold up or accident because your car has inappropriate tyres you get points and a fine. That seems rather fairer to those who don't want or need to drive in adverse weather conditions.

Not now its not, winter tyres are now mandatory in Germany as of 29 Nov.
 
I think winter tyres should be mandatory between certain months of the year. I'm fed up of the whole country coming to a grinding halt and everyone winging about it. It works in other countries so there is no reason at all why it shouldn't work here.

Do something about it once and for all......

Over the last two weeks here in Scotland it is pretty evident that articulated lorries have caused more than their fair share of mayhem on the roads with jack knifing and no traction to the roads.

Do you get winter tyres for arctics?
 
The key is not the tyres, but the care of the end user. The driver.

The next time we get some bad snow/ice lets meet up and do a direct comparison with my winter tyres versus your tyres, I bet you will be surprised!

Roads I have driven on over the last week or so were impassable by most vehicles. If it hadn't been for winter tyres I wouldn't have even been able to get down the back street to my garage. And I am the only person able to get his car to the garage in my street.

But I do agree that all of this is not down to just winter tyres, good driving skills and good electronics on the vehicle help as well.

Cheers

Martin
 
It wouldn't surprise me if the use of winter tyres is enforced by the insurance companies, just as it used to be in Germany (it is now law to have them from November to April).

Having already put up our premiums becuase they lost money when those dodgy banking schemes collapsed, how long do you think it will take before they start to use the fact that you didn't have winter tyres fitted when you pranged your car in the snow and ice to reject your claim?

That's what they did in Germany until it became law - no winter tyres, no insurance in an accident, unless your car was shown to be parked up.
 

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