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Bloviate - words, lots of words...
Rotating Rants
by Red Baron

Seasonal Tires

I'd like to take a moment to expound on my little rant on the idiotic use of seasonal (studded snow tires) tires in Seattle, Washington.

Here in Seattle it's a well known fact; It does not snow, it rains. That being said, it's always amazed me at the great demand for seasonal tires. So far in october i've outfitted several vehicles (i work for a mechanic) with these tires, and it's not even dropping into the mid-forties yet.

I think that the problem that we have in this area is that everyone thinks that they need to have these studded tires for their cars for the "harsh winter months" but no one realizes that we get less than 6 inches of snow per year, and we're lucky to get that. (not speaking of the foothills & mountain area). That being an established fact, we have many people who don't go to the mountains (and for infrequent visits, chains are much more logical) and only stay in the city year round. These people drive around with their seasonal tires from the middle of October until the middle of March; then they wonder why the roads are so bad. People don't realize that you aren't supposed to drive around on these tires without snow and ice, precisely for the reason that they tear up the roads terribly!

I think that if you live in the mountains, the mid-west or perhaps the north-east it makes sense for you to have these tires as you will have harsh winters with snow, ice and sleet. I think that for an area like Seattle, where it is normally not snowing, and is usually just rain with an occasional snow, cable chains and staying off the roads make for a much better solution than destroying our already funds-deprived road system.

I think that either a) people should stop destroying the roads, and then gain the right to complain about their shoddy condition; or b) continue destroying the roads, and just close their mouths and stop complaining. I think that if you're part of the problem you have no right to complain about it.

Just a few points to ponder that I thought i'd pass your way.

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