As there are reports of large accumulations of snow, it is worth bringing up a point I have made before – winter tyres.
There are drivers out there who under the mistaken belief that their local council is responsible for gritting and salting the roads and mysteriously making them safe to drive on.
Well it doesn’t quite work like that.
Gritting and salting roads actually doesn’t accomplish much by itself – if it’s too cold it is not effective, and even when it isn’t, it requires the action of tyres grinding it onto the road to produce any effect. Of course the first few cars and trucks are not going to see any effect from the grit and salt – they’re going to get as much grip on the road as they would if it wasn’t gritted.
In most countries where conditions in the winter are conducive to snow and ice on the roads, special winter tyres with far deeper treads than normal tyres are commonly used. Indeed in many places it is illegal to drive without. Drivers are expected to take some of the responsibility for remaining safe on the roads themselves.
Yet in the UK, whenever we have traffic chaos on the roads the councils are blamed for not gritting enough – even when the conditions are too extreme for grit to be effective.
If you want to be safe on the roads this winter, get winter tyres – they will help!