[FourthProtocol]

Research is also useful -

The first key to effective snow driving is a light throttle and choosing the correct tyre. Driving in snow requires a tall tyre with a narrow section-width. This allows the tyre to cut through the crust and obtain traction on the hard surface beneath the snow (the opposite of sand tyres)...

And so on. I used to teach this stuff -- https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/offroading/Driving/Snow.html

[shanecleveland]

Yep. Though it does not snow a ton here in Western Washington, we go skiing in the Cascade passes. So I have deducted snow tires for our vehicles. They are the biggest difference maker in my opinion.

[jollybean]

It's not so much 'choosing the correct tire' - there's a 'category of tire' and it's called a 'snow tire' and everyone in snowy areas has them, often by law.

It's like 'choosing' to slip through the snow wearing Oxford shoes, or, put on a pair of boots.

All of these comments about bad driving in the W. Coast, about 50% of this is just everyone has completely the wrong tires.

[FourthProtocol]

Understood. I chose (forgive me) 'choosing the correct tire' because not everybody in snowy areas knows they need them, and not everybody has ready access to them. There's often no legal requirement for snow tyres, and some countries (Australia, for example) don't even HAVE snow tyres even though Canberra for eg, tends to get snow at least once a year.

Snow is no stranger in Scotland either, and there's no snow tyres requirement in the UK.

Germany has a law that states you must have winter tyres or all-year tyres from October to Easter ("Oktober bis Ostern" - O to O).

Drive up to Tiffindell Ski Resort in South Affrica (8,920 ft up) in whatever you have - donkey cart, bicyle, 4x4... That gets snowed in regularly, and there's a just a hand-made "4WD recommended" sign at the bottom of the mountain.

[jollybean]

Oh yes, I understand the lingo as a once-upon-a-time Canadian-Californian.

I totally get the confusion.

... and why people are driving around in smash up derbies with just 2 inches of snow.

I'm only just saying 'there isn't that much confusion' elsewhere, it's not like Bostonians have super magical driving ability.

They mostly just have winter tires.

Winter tires with proper 4x4 and ABS etc. can be a pretty safe package.

[gkop]

In California at least, it’s not that simple. There are “all weather tires” that, when paired with AWD, count for “snow tires” per CalTRANS chain control, and then there are real snow (and also, ice) tires. Guess what? You’re gonna have a better time with real snow tires versus all weather, but only the minority of vehicles in chain control in CA have them (IE the majority has chosen the wrong tire for snow safety).

[rootusrootus]

Personally I would be perfectly happy if everyone just ran those all-season mountain snowflake tires in the winter. Sure, they're not as good as a real snow tire, but they're actually pretty good overall and I'd have no problem throwing a set of those on my pickup and going over the mountain. For the kind of winter weather we routinely see west of the Cascades, this kind of tire is ideal.

But what really happens is we have a lot of people on summer tires or the crappiest of all season commodity tires. As long as you don't have to do an emergency stop or an evasive maneuver, they seem like they're adequate for Oregon weather. But I recommend everyone with such tires try a hard stop or turn (in a big parking lot of course) with these tires when it's sub-40F.

[jjav]

Yes, real snow tires have near-magical traction in snow compared to anything else. For anyone who lives in snowy areas, definitely get a set for winter.

Fortunately I live on the California coast now, but when I had to deal with snow I had a set of Hakkapeliitta snow tires (from Finland), they were incredible. I wouldn't want to risk snow driving on any generic all-weather tires.