Majority of Canadians using winter tires: Survey

The message about using winter tires in Canada appears to be gaining traction, a recent study has revealed.

According to the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada 2019 Canadian Consumer Winter Tire Study, 75 per cent of Canadian motorists now use winter tires, compared to 58 per cent in 2014. Excluding Quebec, where winter tires are mandatory, 70 per cent of Canadian drivers will use winter tires this season.

The study, conducted by Leger and which surveyed 1,584 Canadians September 27-30, also found 80 per cent of winter tire owners believe driving a vehicle equipped with them has saved them from loss of control or an accident.

“When you hear that from drivers … that’s a great testimony to having them encourage others to have them,” Pete Karageorgos, Director of Consumer and Industry Relations‎ in Ontario with IBC, told Canadian Underwriter recently. “They see the value and they’re spreading the message.

Superior traction

TRAC’s findings are supported by a report from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation citing a range of studies showing winter tires provide superior traction, braking and cornering in all cold-weather driving conditions, whether the road surface is dry, wet, icy or snow-covered.

So why do a small proportion of drivers still resist?

The most common reasons cited by the study are the belief that all-season tires are good enough (51 per cent), reduced driving in winter (18 per cent) and cost (17 per cent).

Public transit options, the ability to work from home during bad weather or, for a household with multiple vehicles, installing winter tires on just one and designating it the “winter beater” could also be reasons why people don’t make the change, Karageorgos said.

The bottom line is winter tires play an important role in increasing road safety and protecting drivers by:

• preventing collisions, injuries, and fatalities,
• reducing health and hospital emergency costs,
• reducing the number of police and ambulance emergency responses during winter,
• lowering the frequency and size of insurance payouts,
• reducing traffic congestion.

At temperatures just below freezing, stopping distances for vehicles with winter tires are as much as 30 per cent shorter than for vehicles with all-season tires. Winter tires also deliver better traction on an icy or snow-covered road at -30°C versus all-season tires at 4°C.

All-Season tires are a compromise. They do not have the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol which, according to Transport Canada, identifies the tire as having the necessary snow traction performance.

It should be noted various provinces currently offer winter tire initiatives from low-interest financing in Manitoba to lower insurance premiums in Ontario.

All-weather tires

One lesser-known option for drivers is all-weather tires, which are more of a hybrid. They perform well in both summer and winter seasons and save motorists from doing the tire changeover and storage. A portion of the all-weather tires’ treads are straight, while some portions resemble the blocky winter tire tread.

All-weather tires are much better than all-season tires in the winter and have the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol. That being said, a winter tire still outperforms an all-weather tire in the cold.

And finally, motorists should also remember winter tires don’t make them invincible.

“Just because you have winter tires on your car, it doesn’t mean you have Superman’s cape,” Karageorgos cautions. “At the end of the day, it’s still critical that people drive according to the road conditions.”