Quebec did a study on the impact of winter-tire use on car accidents in that province, finding that in fact such tires did cut down on accidents. But we’d have guessed that the snow tires would have reduced crashes more than the research indicated, but here is how the numbers came out.
According to the Canada Free Press, the 2011 study compared Quebec car accidents before and after winter-tire use became mandated by law. And the research found that during the past two winters there has been a 5 percent decline “in road-accident injuries that can be directly attributed to winter tire use,” the Free Press wrote.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/articles-cars/42255
Quebec also determined that winter tires prevent nearly 600 road-accident injuries each winter, and that after the winter-tire mandate the number of car accidents that ended with deaths or serious injuries dropped 3 percent, according to the Free Press.
The story also points out that nowadays high-tech winter tires do more than just offer improved traction in ice and snow.
“The rubber compounds used in today’s sophisticated winter tires deliver better grip in all cold weather driving conditions — including dry pavement — because these compounds maintain their elasticity even at temperatures below minus 30 degrees Celsius,” the Free Press wrote.
Not surprisingly the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC), a trade group for tire makers, is urging motorists to invest in winter tires rather than all-weather models, arguing that winter tires offer up to 50 percent more traction in the winter.
On its website, RAC also provided some sound safety tips about the importance of proper tire inflation and cited the results of another national motorist study.
“The study found that the number of vehicles with improperly inflated tires has fallen dramatically in the past few years,” according to RAC.
One of the study’s key findings was that 49 per cent of the vehicles inspected had at least one tire that was under- or over-inflated. In 2003, a similar RAC driver survey found that 71 per cent of vehicles tested had one or more improperly inflated tire.
The percentage of drivers with one or more tires severely under-inflated by 20 per cent or more – a hazardous condition – also declined significantly to 10 per cent from 23 per cent in 2003.
