Winter Overnight: Time for Winter Tires!
It’s finally starting to look a lot like winter! Snow is falling, kids are throwing snow balls and you can see your breath as you shovel the driveway. It feels like just last week the birds were chirping and the warm sun was out all-day long. That means it’s time for winter / snow tires to make their much needed appearance.
Winter Tires Not Only Help Traffic, They Keep You & Others Safe
Unfortunately, some of us out there are having trouble letting go of summer or all season tires! We have all driven behind that long line up of cars, that is being held up by that one driver who needs to do 40km/h in an 80km/h zone. Don’t be that driver, in my opinion it really is much safer to have snow tires and be able to stop better in a panic situation.
Driving Slow CAN Still Be Dangerous
A few weeks ago, I was driving to a friend’s house and the weather was fine, not a rain drop or snow flake in site. But after a few hours I had come outside only to find that there was snow everywhere and ice underneath! Normally I would not be phased by this but this time the weather caught me off guard. I had all season tires on and although they were brand new I still couldn’t make it up the hill to leave. I simply stopped the truck and put it in 4-wheel drive. My Ram had no problem getting up the hill it was almost effortless! The only issue was… how do I stop? I hit the brakes at the top of the hill and almost slid through the stop sign. All the way home I did 20km/h under the speed limit and would start to slow truck down early if I saw a red light coming up. For some reason, many people feel that driving nervous or incredibly slow is okay or safe. It’s NOT. Driving slowly can still cause accidents and not being able to stop as fast as the person in front of you will cause accidents too. Being unpredictable is not safe.
Winter Tires = More Confidence on Winter Roads
A week later a few of us went back to the same persons house, only difference was this time I had my snow and ice tires on. I was instantly more confident, I thought I would try out these tires. So I left the truck in rear wheel drive and backed out of the driveway. The truck stopped with no issues. I proceeded to drive up the hill again, with little wheel slip, the ABS came on and did its job. When I got to the top of the hill I braced myself and hit the brakes once again. This time the truck stopped no problem! I noticed before I stopped that I was actually going faster than I was before. The winter tires made all the difference in the world!
We Always Put Safety First
I can’t stress enough how much snow tires will make a difference and I know there are many people that say, “I never had snow tires before, why do I need them now?” If people had said that about air bags back in the day we wouldn’t be that much safer! Now, the rest of the world that IS using snow tires lets get one thing straight. Just because you have snow tires and are feeling confident it does not mean you can brake late and take corners like Andretti. You still need to drive for the conditions, but now you have the tools to put your best foot forward.
Thank you for your time, stay tuned for next week.
Ryan K. Fray
