I've been driving for 31 years in Wisconsin. That's 31 winters and I've never owned a set of snow tires. You don't need them unless you live in a hilly or mountainous region. Just learn how your vehicle handles in the snow and a decent set of all-season tires are fine.
Posted Dec 16, 2022, 4:54 PM UTC
Fellow wi driver here. Depends on your county and township for how well they plow if snow tires are needed.
Some places plow and salt really well. Other places don't. My township thinks a 2 inch layer of snow on a road is fine. They also think sand is worth its weight in gold for how stingy they are when spreading it.
I grew up driving in rural central WI where the backroads were never plowed.
That's just irresponsible. It could be a case of 31 years fine, then on your 32nd year you hit someone walking out in front of you. Killing them because of reduced traction that you could of had with snow tires.
Just as a sanity check, I posed the question to my co-workers. That's 15 people living in southern Wisconsin or the suburbs of Chicago. Not one single person uses snow tires.
Tbh I don't know the conditions of where you live. In some of the comments you've made it sound like you don't actually get much snow and the roads aren't overly dangerous or icy to drive on without snow tires.
But your original post sounds like you're saying you don't need to use snow tires in areas where snow and ice is prevalent. You only advocate using them at high altitudes and say instead just learn how your car handles in snow. Which is an irresponsible thing to say.
"I can do it so it's unnecessary for everyone else" is exactly the kind of take I'd expect from a Sconnie.
What do you drive though? My full size pickup with 4 wheel drive doesn't need snow tires but my neighbor with a prius sure does. MN driver here
We don't often get much snow where I live, but there have been a couple times when I've driven in snow with regular all-season tires. I live in the city (fairly flat, not many inclines) and I drove slowly and carefully and I was fine. I have a 2009 VW Rabbit (front wheel drive).
My 97 accord never needed them. Decent all seasons and control over my right foot where all I needed in most of my cars. The exception being my 01 zx3 that thing needed all the help it could get.
Now I don't bother because the weather is so nuts on this coast these days that I just assume it will all melt in a day.
I'm my lifetime I've owned a RWD 85 GMC sierra, 79 Pontiac Grand Prix, 95 Geo Metro, 95 Ford Taurus, 2000 Ford Focus, 2006 Pontiac Vibe and currently a 2018 Hyundai Tuscon.
Almost everyone I know uses all-season tires all year round. The only person I know that uses snow tires is a guy from Southern Georgia who doesn't have much experience driving in the snow.
I drive 13 miles per year and never got into an accident! Accidents don't exist!
[deleted]
Kinda sorta true but not really…..some people are just bad drivers and will never learn, I’d prefer they had winter tires for MY safety.
There are bad drivers with winter tires as well. With the shit I've seen during storms, I stay at home.
Haha very true but imagine them without extra traction….
Plenty of people around that thing awd or 4x4 will help them stop..... Hurts my brain
Alaskan here.
You are 100000% not correct.
I can see needing snow tires in Alaska, of course.
Bruh, mfs like you cause so much traffic accidents, that i don't know how the natural selection still didn't get involved
[removed]
"Just learn how your vehicle drives in the snow" Before or after the accident do I put on the correct tires?
Umm, don't cause an accident and you'll be fine. 80% of the drivers in my town don't use winter tires. I'm sure they're nice to have the handful of days we get heavy snow, but you don't need them. For the first 10 years of driving, I lived in rural Central WI. They used sand on the main roads and didn't plow the back roads. No one used them there either and it didn't seem to be a problem.
'Don't cause an accident'
Uh... what? How does that work? Who purposely tries to cause accidents?
Don’t cause an accident 😂 I’m pretty sure accidents are called accidents because they aren’t meant to happen….
You sound exactly like the kind of person who has never owned a set of snow tires. Blizzaks for life.
Driver's like your are why people drive 30 on the highway when there's 1mm of snow.
[deleted]
[removed]
If you live in urban areas where it may not snow like crazy, and there’s plows that patrol the streets regularly during snow falls, absolutely unnecessary. All season tires are meant for exactly that: all seasons.
If you have the cash and precious cargo like a baby or wife that you would rather take the extra step to protect, why not.
Lastly if you live in northern Ontario, like myself or somewhere cold where it actually snows, you won’t get out of your driveway without studded winter tires.
If you live in urban areas where it may not snow like crazy, and there’s plows that patrol the streets regularly during snow falls
I do. I've only had to drive in really deep snow a handful of times in my life.
Then I agree with you!!
A lot of times when roads are bad and nobodies around, I slam my breaks see how my car reacts, i think it’s good to limit test your vehicle in unfavourable conditions and that can help prevent an accident.
I do the same thing. Not all snow is the same so I like to do a little test when I pull out of my driveway.
Learning how your vehicle handles doesn't mean much when a subaru driven by someone else too stubborn to get proper tires comes flying at you.
I'm more worried about people with "proper" tires driving too fast for conditions because they are overconfident in their AWD with snow tires. I work from home now and I don't have any need to be out until the roads are plowed and salted.
People can drive dangerously regardless of their setup. If you have to drive in the worst conditions why would you not want to minimize the chances of an accident?
Dude, what? Does it get cold where you live? Does it ever get icy? Is there any other traffic? You can end up causing accidents even WITH them. Of course you don't NEED them to drive but you're fucking stupid if you do drive with regular wheels, and you're risking yours and other people's lives.
I bet you learned this from someone who thought "You don't NEED a condom, you learn to pull out at the right time!"
Of course you don't NEED them to drive but you're fucking stupid if you do drive with regular wheels
I live in Madison, WI. The vast majority of people that live below 45 degrees North do not use them. I can see needing them in the UP or anywhere you get lake effect snow or Northern MN, but for 95% of the population in the lower 48, you do not need them.
I’ve seen 15 people in the ditch in my city this week so I think you’re pretty dumb if you don’t use them
What if you live on Northern Canada or Siberia? Mostly flat but still snows a lot.
Then I could see using winter tires. When I posted this I had the lower 48 in mind. I could see needing them if you live near the Great Lakes and get lake-effect snow.
"I've never been in an accident so you don't need to wear seat belts."
THIS IS REALLY BAD ADVICE.
So, to be clear, there are winter compound tires and winter tires that are studded. I agree, few people need studded snow tires.
Winter compound tires, though, are designed to keep the braking performance consistent when the air is very cold. All seasons perform OK, but IMHO those should be run in climates where it is normally fair but with cold spurts. Like Denver. Northern Minnesota? You are going to want winter compound tires.
There are several videos on youtube that demonstrate the traction difference between all-seasons and winter compound tires in winter temps but otherwise acceptable road surfaces. It is illuminating.
Yes you do. Any increased traction can mean the difference between an accident and maintaining control of the car. This is like saying you don’t need insurance, just pay attention to the road.