Bah. I’m willing to bet I’m a better driver than 99% of those officers who would be in charge of turning me around in snowy conditions.

I’m not saying using winter tires shouldn’t happen. Quite the opposite actually. The difference between M+S and a true studded winter tire is night and day IMO.

Also…just because you have a big 4×4 with deep lug mudder tires doesn’t mean you’re good to go. I see big 4×4’s in the ditch all the time driven by folks who figured just because they were in 4wd, they could drive at normal ‘summer’ highway speeds….

Mercenary: Just get one of them to chase you sometime. You’ll find out!

Yah, the 4x4s just make me laugh! I can leave them sitting at stoplights all the time while their tires are spinning to try and catch up to me!

It still amazes me how crappy the drivers in this town can be during winter. Its not like we hardly ever get snow and they aren’t used to it. Get up and get ready 10 minutes earlier so you don’t need to speed on unsafe conditions to make it to work on time.

Tried to get a flat fixed during the first inkling of snow last year. 4 tire merchants gave me the brush off and told me to come back in about three or four days. Most interesting it was.

Compulsory to have winter tires on, I don’t think so! The average Car does not weigh 13.5 short tons. Is it advisable YES. All of my family have studded winter tires installed on their vehicles. Even the grandson after one season using them would never use anything else in the winter time.
The point being you can’t legislate common sense and common sense sometimes is dictated by the pocketbook.

It’s funny most people with trucks say I don’t need winter I have four wheel drive. Something they never think of is stopping.

What a lot of folks don’t realize or are unaware of is there are four entities that can screw up your day in the snow. Transport Canada (Federal), Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (BC), ICBC and last, but never least, the RCMP.

For those idiots with the big pickup trucks and the mudder lug tires doing well over the posted speed let alone driving for the conditions, should you wind up in the rhubarb, your M+S tires can get you a nice fine per tire if Mr. Mountie thinks you’re driving like and idiot.

Now if the road conditions mandate “winter tires” not “mud and snow tires” past a specific point and you crash, ICBC can void your insurance due to you not having the correct tires on your vehicle for the conditions you were driving in. Heaven forbid you hit some one else in the process, they can not only go after you for stupidity causing the accident they have the option to go after you by way of a civil action, over and above what they can get from ICBC .

This whole confusion by the province doesn’t over shadow what the federal government regulations considers “winter tires” to be. At the end of the day where there is confusion provincially the federal regulations will take the front seat. It’s all about wording with these guys. The signs say good “winter tires” and or “chains”, no where does it say good “all season” tires.

It all comes down to tire composition, rubber formulation and tread design. Tires that are built for a specific purpose work best in the purpose. The mountain rated (mountain in a triangle with a snow flake) tires are formulated to provide the maximum amount of adhesion in cold temperatures and the best traction / friction co-efficient for maneuvering and stopping. This is generally a softer rubber composition with finer tread design to grip the ice and water laden roadway.

All season tires are designed to work best in a wide temprature environment and actually start to fail when the road conditions are too cold, being made from a medium density rubber that functions great in summer or fall conditions but doesn’t have the softness for cold conditions to grip the road. Losing the traction friction co-efficiency to adhere to the icy wet road can lead to loss of steering control and braking.

So the question you need to ask yourself is this, do you feel lucky? The smart answer is to equip your car or truck with what you need to get there safely. Northern BC calls for studded “winter tires” on all four wheels or at the least good “winter tires” on all four wheels. It’s just nice to know that should things get “ugly” you can get where you need to be safely regardless of how long it takes driving in ugly conditions. Forget about the fluff about who says what tire is best, do what makes you and your family “SAFE”.

Professional, can you provide a link to ICBCs site where it says they will void your insurance for having allseason tires in the winter. Thanks.

Will driving without winter tires void my insurance?

No. Driving without winter tires will not void your insurance if you have a claim. It also won’t mean you’re automatically at-fault in a crash. However, if you get in a crash where winter tires could have helped, not having them may affect whether—or how much—you are at-fault.

From [ur]http://www.icbc.com/road-safety/safer-drivers/winter-driving[/url]

It’s a rather ambiguous answer though because it doesn’t directly state if they’re referring to a road where winter tires are mandatory or not.

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! my kingdom for an edit button!

http://www.icbc.com/road-safety/safer-drivers/winter-driving

Thanks axman, that’s what I thought.

If there is a Civil Action they would have to prove that not having winter tires actually caused the accident, which of course would be hard to prove. You would probably have to show what would have happened in the same circumstance with top of the line winter tires. I doubt if there would be a big difference depending on the speed, and other circumstances.

I wonder how we all survived in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s when we had private insurance, and whatever tires were available.

Most of the tires referred to above were not invented back then, yet people somehow managed to get back and fourth to work.

My guess is that the accident rate was much the same (or less) than it is now.

Inundating people with facts, figures, pros, cons, etc; for insurance, tire sales, abdication of responsibility for insurance companies is what its all about these days.

If you are the one without winter tires and you are in an accident you have to prove your tires weren’t part of the problem. Good luck with that!

The point I am trying to get across is regardless what ICBC says they will or won’t do if you’re in an accident, (the internet has plenty of stories of grief from ICBC adjusters squeezing folks over accidents) if your driving in winter conditions, don’t take the wheels of fortune chance, be sure your vehicle is equipped for the conditions. Winter rated tire are far superior to “all season” or “mud and snow” rated tires.

ICBC already has a standing policy with the RCMP and municipal police agencies in many areas, preventing them from charging people in most motor vehicle accidents so ICBC can assume fault on both parties. A policy you can fight on the spot, if you are in an accident and you feel the other party is at fault. You have the right to insist that the other party be charged, so long as you are willing to go to court and see the charges through the courts.

ICBC as an insurance company have in the past cancelled insurance on various grounds, incorrect tires for conditions being one of the grounds. They say they won’t, but they also without skipping a beat say that it may affect your at fault risk or liability. Don’t always take one bit of ICBC talk as being “the way it is”, they are the insurance company and they want to protect there profit margin by not paying out where ever possible. All I am saying is cover you hind quarters and be ready for whatever conditions nature my throw you. Remember not everyone has your best interest at heart, you look after yourself and your family first.