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road sage

We live in tumultuous times. Citizens in the United States are about to vote in the most divisive election since 1860. Canadians are ready to take their anger out on politicians. The fabric of our nation is worn and threadbare. Only one thing is certain: If the country ever does fall apart, it will not be over Quebec separating, western alienation, foreign interference or class struggle.

It will be because of winter tires.

Few topics divide Canadians more than tires made from pliable rubber compounds which remain soft at temperatures of less than 7 degrees Celsius; tires that have deep tread depths as well as increased slots and sipes (slits that perform as biting edges on ice) and thereby provide a tighter grip on the road.

Nothing.

Think people are furious with the Prime Minister? Try telling a Canadian winter tire truther they should buy a set. You’ll get hit by a blizzard of bile. I’ve written extensively on the differences between summer, all-season and winter tires. Each time I do, I’m pummelled by a barrage of outrage from people who are convinced winter tires are an elaborate scam orchestrated to rip-off law-abiding drivers. I am accused of taking bribes from “Big Rubber” or being an unwitting stooge for a winter tire star chamber. I am called stupid and delusional as well as stupidly delusional.

A recent Leger survey of 1,521 Canadian drivers commissioned by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) found 85 per cent of Canadian drivers believe winter tires are important. Yet roughly a third of Canadian drivers are winter tire skeptics. Only 67 per cent of Ontario drivers, 64 per cent of Manitoba and Saskatchewan drivers and 73 per cent of drivers in Alberta and British Columbia, use winter tires. In Quebec, where winter tires are mandatory, 71 per cent of drivers use them. Truthers will say all these statistics are lies because the survey was paid for by TRAC.

I’ve tried berating “Winter Tire Truthers.” Zero impact.

I’ve tried empathy and gentle persuasion. No luck.

That’s why I have created a test based on evidence from John Woodroofe’s 2016 “Ten Surprising Findings About Winter Tires: It Is Not Just About Snow” and the TRAC’s 2015 “The Cold, Hard Facts About Winter Tires.” Answer the following quiz. I’ll bet you’ll discover your winter tire doubts have no traction.

The Road Sage Winter Tire Truth Test

1. The main benefit of winter tires is:

a) To improve acceleration performance.

b) To avoid getting stuck in the snow.

c) To waste thousands of dollars in a grand conspiracy designed to bilk foolish drivers when all-season tires will do.

d) To gain better adhesion, braking and cornering performance, which improves overall vehicle control.

2. True or false? Winter tires are only useful in snow.

3. At temperatures just below freezing, cars using winter tires on dry pavement have stopping distances that are up to ___________ shorter than for vehicles with all-season tires.

a) 10 per cent

b) 27 per cent

c) 30 per cent

d) 44 per cent

4. True or false? When braking and cornering in the winter, a two-wheel-drive vehicle with winter tires will outperform a four-wheel-drive vehicle on all-season tires.

5. A four-wheel-drive SUV does not need winter tires because …

a) Four-wheel drive allows an SUV to accelerate quickly through ice and snow.

b) What is …

c) Wrong …

d) With you?

e) Where do you get these delusional ideas about the supernatural braking and acceleration of four-wheel-drive vehicles? It does not improve braking.

6. You only need to put two winter tires on your car because …

a) Two winter tires and two all-season tires create a yin/yang balance that creates an aura of maximum safety.

b) It’s like Prefab Sprout says, “Two Wheels Good.”

c) I, like all sentient beings, know that this is false and that vehicles must be equipped with four winter tires.

7. The roads and highways in my province are well maintained, therefore I do no need winter tires. The name of the province in which I live is:

a) British Nonexistentia

b) Imaginatoba

c) Ontarino

d) Newfakeland

e) Nova Invisible

f) All of the above.

8. Summer tires are known as “Performance Tires” because …

a) They are made of rubber formulated to enhance performance in warm weather.

b) They perform as well in the winter as they do in the summer.

c) They were first worn by actor Palmer Kinch playing the part of “Tractor” in Theatre Passe Muraille’s seminal 1972 production of The Farm Show produced in a barn in the town of Clinton in southwestern Ontario.

9. True or false? Winter tires with only half of their normal tread depth give superior performance in snow compared to new all-season tires.

10. True or false? From a speed of 16 kilometres an hour, a car with winter tires on an icy road needs 6.4 metres to stop. A car with all-season tires needs 12.1 metres.

11. Autonomous driving technologies such as crash-avoidance technologies mean you don’t need winter tires any more because …

a) Technology always good.

b) I’m too cheap to buy winter tires and this is a nice excuse.

c) “Crash-avoidance” means you will never get in a crash. That’s the “crash-avoidance” guarantee.

d) None of the above.

Answers:

1. D

2. F

3. C

4. True

5. E

6. C

7. F

8. A

9. True

10. True.

11. None of the above.

What your score says about you:

1 to 3 – You need winter tires.

4 to 6 – You want winter tires.

7 to 9 – You already have winter tires.

10 to 11 – You have already put your winter tires on.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the answer provided for question 8. Questions 4 and 10 have been updated with additional information to inform the correct answers for each.

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