Most Canadians now use winter rubber
A full 80 per cent of those drivers have admitted snow tires saved their butts
Winter in Canada is hard on people and hard on cars, but it’s even harder on your car if you crash it. That’s why more drivers should be using winter tires. And, according to a recent survey, they are. About 76 per cent of Canadians say they use winter tires on their vehicles, the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada’s (TRAC) 2018 Canadian Consumer Winter Tire Study has found. Eight out of 10 respondents say there have been times when they’ve needed their winter tires to regain control and prevent a collision. The numbers are up from 2016, when only 66 per cent of Canadians were using winter tires, so the message is getting heard. “Canadian drivers who have embraced winter tires have spoken and provided this very telling insight,” says Glenn Maidment, president of TRAC. “They confirmed what we already know — that the superior performance of winter tires has a place in Canada, and that their greater grip and significantly shorter stopping distances on all cold-weather road surfaces keep Canadians safer on winter roads.” Most Canadians who don’t use winter tires cite their belief that all-seasons are “good enough,” or that purchasing winter tires is too expensive. (Others said they simply do not drive in the winter.) Winter tires offer superior grip when temperatures drop below 7 C. At that point, when regular tires start to get hard, winter tires remain soft and malleable, allowing them to grip onto the snow and ice and use it to maintain grip. The province that sees the highest winter-tire usage is Quebec, where winters are mandatory. Provincial research shows that universal winter-tire usage resulted in a five per cent reduction in accidents and a three per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries. Saskatchewan and Manitoba saw the lowest usage rate, with only 60 per cent of drivers there equipping their vehicles with the seasonally appropriate rubber. Ontario’s usage rate came in at 69 per cent.