Winter tires saved the day

East coast is in the tail winds of the interior deep freeze.

 

When SUVs became the new must-have thing to conquer foul mountain road conditions here back in the 1990s, they quickly claimed parking preference in the ditches. But early this century they began sharing such parking somewhat more equitably.

Out here, outside the Puget Sound lowlands and the I-5 corridor and a handful of major cities elsewhere, I can't imagine the percentage of lands that are within incorporated municipal government reaching double digits. Many counties probably don't even reach 1%.

Roads in unincorporated areas not maintained by the state DOT, or by the feds (the largest landowner), are maintained by the local highway districts or counties.

 

I did a little more digging on the unorganized territory (UT) and found out something I did not know before. As turned out US and Canada are very unique in that a large portion of land has no local governing structure thus unincorporated. In other countries, this is very rare. However, within the US, there are 8 states that have no or very little unincorporated area within the states. All 8 states are eastern states, and 5 of them are New England states. Maine is the only NE state which has large unincorporated areas, despite a much smaller portion than some other states such as yours.

I did not know about this. And since I have not lived or traveled outside of our own incorporated town and city systems, I have no idea how the roads are maintained in those unincorporated areas. Yep, if I live in those places, then I may have to have chains on my car all winter long.

Unincorporated area - Wikipedia

Unincorporated regions are essentially nonexistent in eight of the northeastern states. All of the land in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island, and nearly all of the land in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, is part of an incorporated area of some type.​

 

After driving in Minnesota winter weather for decades in all sorts of vehicles with and without snow tires, I can safely say that almost *any* set of snow tires are better in snow/ice than *any* all season tire. However, snow tires do wear much faster, etc...

WIth that said, by far the best all season I have tried in snow/ice is the Michelin CrossClimate 2. They truly are special in that they really do *approach* a snow tire....at least in the flatlands here in Minnesota. Disclaimer though...I have no experience driving in the winter in mountainous areas.

 

Kal Tire calls the Cross Climate “all weather”, their term for tires in between all-season and winter tires. They have the mountain-snowflake emblem IIRC.

Michelin CrossClimate 2 Tires for All-Weather | Kal Tire

 

To expand upon that, I noticed the traction tire regulations that were posted for some states had a maximum wear limit than what is in place for year round tires. That is, the minimum tread depth for a snow tire to be legal when traction tires were required was like four times the minimum tread depth to pass a safety inspection.

 

Yeah I've heard recommendation of 6/32" minimum tread depth for winter tires.

 

Spring for a tread depth gauge, $4~5 lol.

 

That's what Colorado's Passenger Vehicle Traction Law states, that you must have 6/32" tread depth. Some highways have this law all winter long.

Also that law states they must be all-season or winter tires, with the exception of an AWD or 4WD vehicle. Then it can have summer tires and 6/32" tread. Personally I think that having summer tires in bad winter weather is a bad idea on any vehicle, but the law is the law.

 

Just curious. Do they enforce this winter tire tread law? I know regular tire tread law for the legal limit of 2/32" is somewhat enforceable by requiring annual safety inspection. But how do they check for winter tires have 6/32”?

 

Mine was under two dollars

I suspect it is mostly enforced after a crash with an additional fine.

 

That's what I've heard, after a crash it's checked as part of the investigation, which can cause a fine, points taken off the license, or even be used to accuse of causing the accident.

 

I guess that could be a deterrent for some but hardly a preventive measure.

 

4WD trucks stuck on the side of the pass being passed by a Prius is a deterrent.

 

That is mostly how our chain law is enforced now, though including cases of just getting stuck and needing a tow or other assistance.

Once upon a time we had occasional chain checkpoints too, but the rate at which they were trying to wave vehicles through or sending back precluded any possibility of tread depth checks.

 

Check tread depth and pressure once per month. I know, tread depth is probably obsessive. If we could just get the govt to stop mandating stupid rules like TPMS, I would be happier and have more $$ to spend on -- well something.
kris