![['Not everyone driving the streets of Corner Brook will have their winter tires on.']](https://saltwire.imgix.net/tires-1925144.jpg?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=compress%2Cformat%2Cenhance)
On Wednesday afternoon, in some sheltered St. John’s locations, crocuses were starting to push their purple and yellow buds up through the soil, hopeful in the extreme.
Wednesday evening, the snow began, gently at first, then blowing across front yards in waves, like sheer curtains caught in the wind.
By early Thursday morning, it was ice pellets rattling off the windows and lashings of freezing rain. With the dawn, it was rain and melting, falling ice.
By 11 a.m., it was eight degrees and steadily rising.
Welcome to that strange season called spring. Freeze, soak, fog, repeat.
On any given day, you don’t know what you’re going to get, either on your lawn or under the wheels of your car.
Also on Thursday, the province of British Columbia widened its requirements for snow tire use in mountainous areas, saying drivers have to have snow tires until the end of April.
Right now, some people in this province are thinking of getting their winter tires off; others didn’t put them on in the first place, choosing to play all-season roulette instead.
But that’s getting harder.
Some automobile insurers already ask the question quite bluntly: “Do you have snow tires in the winter?” Without them, those same insurers aren’t really interested in your business.
Quebec has required snow tires from Dec. 14 to March 15, and has had that law in place since 2008. Studies there have shown a five per cent drop in winter accidents.
Right now, some people in this province are thinking of getting their winter tires off; others didn’t put them on in the first place, choosing to play all-season roulette instead.
Ontario doesn’t require snow tires, but insurers offer discounts for those who commit to always using the tires in winter.
Here, Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador asked the provincial government to make snow tires a requirement back in 2008 — some specialists suggest the tires should be on our vehicles from Nov. 15 to May 31, given our particularly changeable spring weather. And it’s not just for snow: winter tires have a different rubber composition, and grip better than other tires when the temperature falls below seven degrees.
The provincial government’s own vehicles are equipped with snow tires in this province, but in the past, the province’s snow tire message has muddied the waters.
Unwilling to require the tires and risk outraging a section of voters, the province has at times argued that there wasn’t enough research to require the tires, and at other times maintained that requiring the tires would hurt retirees, who might choose just not to drive on snowy days, given the extra costs of winter tires.
To sum up: snow tires work, but they cost money. Requiring drivers to be prepared for winter conditions might make them angry. (Might we point out that automobile insurance costs even more, but we have to have it?)
And governments?
Sometimes they work, and sometimes a vote is more important than everyone else’s safety.
