The Current - Should winter tires be mandatory across Canada?

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Winter tires are mandatory across Quebec and on mountainous roads in B.C., but in the rest of Canada, the decision rests with drivers. Should that change? A road safety expert weighs in.

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On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current Podcast. I'm sorry, this is just a call-out for the idiot in the white GR hatch, holding up traffic, sliding, guy couldn't stop, couldn't go, literally watched him slide his car right into the curb all-wheel drive only works when you are connected to the ground get some snow tires okay you should know that winter comes in saskatchewan why would you run

around with bald tires today like crazy even though i have winter tires i never know about the guy behind me or the guy coming through the intersection, right? Despite fears and frustrations like that, it turns out many Canadians do not actually use winter tires. All-season tires are good enough, some of us say. Winter tires are also expensive. That's changing, though, in terms of how people are using that technology. Three-quarters of Canadians switch to winter tires more than ever before. In Quebec, winter tires are mandatory from the 1st of December through the 15th of March. You don't have them on your car, you can be fined. In British Columbia,

you have to use winter tires on mountainous roads. In the rest of Canada, though, it is up to you. Robin Robertson would like to compel people to change their tires in winter. She's president and CEO of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation. Robin, good morning. Good morning, Matt. All-season tires, not good enough? Not good enough with the unpredictable and changing winters that we have in a lot of parts of Canada. What do we know? What is the evidence that shows that winter

tires actually work to keep us, as we say, ideally out of the ditch? Well, we have spent a lot of time looking at winter tires and each year when winter is coming, it's one of our reports that really gets a lot of media coverage because the science is clear having winter tires helps you with stopping distance helps you with braking and handling and maintaining control of your vehicle and you're right there is that perception that all-season tires are good enough and we know from research that that they're not Winter tires are going to give you more grip, more traction on the road where traction exists. And if you've ever driven in lightly snow-covered, slushy, wet, or very, very dry, cold roads, winter tires are going to improve your driving experience and help you get home safely at the end of the day.

We're talking about winter tires. We are not talking about snow tires. People will use the terms interchangeably, but there is a difference, right? Right. So snow tires are used for driving in heavy, deep snow, whereas winter tires are good for road conditions below plus seven. Yes, plus seven Celsius. When the temperatures hit plus 7, you really should change to winter tires because the rubber compound in the tire remains more elastic and flexible, which gives you better grip on the road. With all-season tires, that rubber tends not to perform as well when it just doesn't give you the grip. I was saying three-quarters of Canadians switch to winter tires now.

That's more than ever before. But there are a lot of people, you don't need to look at evidence that's written out. You can see it as you look out the window of your car as you're driving around. Lots of people who will not switch to winter tires. And they will run out all sorts of excuses that all season tires, as we said, are good enough. That it's expensive. It's pain to have to go into the shop and have your tires switched. Maybe you have to figure out where to store those tires.

You have to lug them around. What do you say to people who have all sorts of excuses not to use winter tires? I'd say that the cost of crashes is much higher than the cost of winter tires. And we see that in the data. When you're driving in poor road conditions and you don't have winter tires, you can see them beside you. They're the ones who are fishtailing. They're the ones who are sliding off the road in the ditch. Those are ones who can't stop at a red light on time and slide through the intersection. The intersection. So yeah, so winter tires, the cost of winter tires, you have to measure that against the cost of crashes, not just for you and for your family, but for everyone else out on the road.

They are expensive though, right? And you wonder whether a crash that hasn't happened can seem like an abstract cost, whereas going and buying a set of winter tires can cost you a lot of money at a time when people are pinched at the best of times. Right. Absolutely. And I think you tend to think that you'll be okay. But, you know, for Canadians across the country, we've seen winter conditions change. We've seen places where you don't typically get snow, more often get snow, like out here in BC. And then you've got, you know, the winter storms that come up the East Coast, you get lake effect snow. And I think all of us are familiar with driving in winter conditions where the snow is just blowing across the road and drifting. And those are exactly the kinds of conditions where you want winter tires. So you're gambling with your safety, essentially. What about people who say, I'm a very good driver? I don't need to worry about this. I'm an excellent driver.

Right. So here's two interesting facts about winter tires that will hopefully help give people some perspective. A car that has winter tires on an icy road needs a little bit more than six meters to stop. And if you're driving with all season tires, that becomes 12 meters. So when you think about the speeds with which you're traveling, when you think about the congestion on the roads, how often do you have 12 meters in front of you to come to a stop when you need to? The other interesting thing is a two-wheel drive vehicle that has winter tires will outperform a four-wheel drive vehicle with all-season tires when it comes to braking and cornering. So why don't we regulate this then? I mean, in Quebec, as we said, friends and family will tell you that from the 1st of December, you need to have your winter tires on or you could be

hit with a fine. Do we need to make this mandatory across the country? Well, I think education is really important. I think legislation can be difficult to enforce and it can be costly. And in Quebec, it is a little bit different because they have winter. You know, when you look at the different parts of Canada, they are used to heavy snow conditions and they're used to very cold temperatures. Whereas you look at a province like BC, you know, our winter is much more mild. We tend not to have a lot of snow, although we do get snow. So, you know, I think it's about choices that people make. And I think helping people understand even the safety features in your vehicle aren't going to work as well if you don't have the proper tires on your vehicle.

And, you know, the safety features on your vehicle are a lot of the reasons for purchasing decisions. So you think, I mean, education is strong enough, not enforcement? I think education's important. I think enforcement is very challenging. There are insurers across the country that are offering incentives for people to switch to winter tires. And for those of us, I mean, once you've driven in snow and kind of see how vastly different it is to just driving on, you know, dry roads, you know, it gives you some insight into why the investment in winter tires is important. We'll see whether people pick up on that investment. Robin, thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Matt. Robin Robertson is president and CEO of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation. If you have thoughts, should the rest of the country follow the lead of Quebec and say you have to have the winter tires on? People just colloquially call them the snows, but they're not snow tires. But should you have the winter tires on and be mandated to do that, you can email us if you have thoughts, thecurrentatcbc.ca. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.