Push to have drivers invest in winter tires despite a lack of snow

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There isn’t any snow outside or even in the forecast, but now is the perfect time to install winter tires on your vehicle. That’s what local firefighters are asking people to do. “Of course there’s no snow now but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t hit,” says Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Captain Jonathan Gormick.

But more importantly, once the thermometer starts to drop, it becomes a safety issue whether or not there’s any snow. “Even though there’s no snow, winter tires will help motorists when the roads are really wet and especially when it’s cold,” explains Gormick. “Summer tires have a different rubber compound that’s a little bit harder whereas winter tires have a softer grip that works better when temperatures drop below about seven degrees.”

He says a lot of people aren’t aware. “I hate to see people reminded by an incident where they crash their vehicle or they crash into something. It only becomes apparent then that they should have had more appropriate tires. I’ve seen lots of incidents in the winter where people are either driving on summer tires or they’re driving on tires that need replacing because the tread depth is too little and not enough tread remains.”

Tread is the other area winter tires are helpful in, even if there isn’t any snow. “It’s the softer rubber and of course a deeper tread depth than summer tires. So if when there’s large amounts of water on the road, especially standing water, they can help with traction then as well,” says Gormick.

And don’t try and get away with a shortcut by only putting on two tires instead of a full set. “On a front-wheel drive car they (drivers) only put snow tires on the front or on the back for rear-wheel drive cars. And that’s certainly not case because those other wheels are doing a job as well. They’re steering the vehicle and if you have inappropriate tires on the rear, that means the rear can break loose easily,” says Gormick.

You need winter tires on out of town highways. Those rules are in effect until March 31st and if you break them you can be hit with a $121 fine.

The Wet Coast

There is no snow in the forecast, at least not in the near future, but things are certainly wet on the South Coast. NEWS 1130 Meteorologist Russ Lacate says 24 of the 28 days so far this month have been rainy. “If we get to 26 days out of 31 then we will tie the all-time record for the dreariest month of October, which was actually set in both 1967 and 1985. But the amount on the rain gauge is 180 millimetres so far — we’re only in 13th place.”

He adds the wettest October of all-time was in 1975 when 287 millimetres of rain fell, but Russ doesn’t see that happening this year.