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Show Sole Winter Driving Con Begin, Check Tires fSow come to a stop once the brakes are applied on clear, dry pavement pave-ment from a speed of 20 miles per hour. On loosely-packed snow, the same car needs 60 feet to stop, and on glare ice at 25 degrees fahrenheit, braking brak-ing distance is 149 feet. ''Reinforced tire chains are still a driver's best winter traction trac-tion buy," White said. "Chains on the rear wheels can cut a driver's braking distance on snow at 20 miles per hour to 38 feet. On glare ice at 20 miles per hour," he continued, "rear wheel chains can cut braking distance in half. Safe winter driving means getting a grip on the road, and according to Darcie H. White, President, Utah Safety Council, Coun-cil, the grip drivers get depends de-pends on the tires and traction aids they select for winter use. "Drivers should check their tires to make sure they have plenty of tread for traction on ice and snow," White said, "but even with new tires, braking distances will be greatly great-ly lengthened and a car's acceleration ac-celeration capability will be decreased on ice and snow as compared to dry paverncvit." According to White, the average car needs 17 feet to "In addition," White said, "chains give more than three three times better acceleration traction than regular tires in loosely-packed snow, and more than six times better acceleration acceler-ation than regular tires on glare ice." Snow tires, White said, cut braking distance on snow and improve acceleration on both snow and ice. Studded tires, he said, cut braking distance and increase acceleration substantially on glare ice, but provide no benefit bene-fit on loosely packed snow. ''Studded snow tires on rear wheels and regular studded tire on front wheels make a good combination for safe acceleration, braking and cornering corn-ering on both snow and ice surfaces," White said. Studded tires and snow tires need special care, according to White. He advised motorists to have studs inserted by a tire dealer or garage and steer clear of do-it-yourself studding kits. Studs, he added, should only be inserted into new tires since road grit can work into the stud holes of used tires, preventing the studs from seating seat-ing properly. White said motorists who are remounting studded tires this year should mount them in the same position they were mounted last winter. Tire studs he said wear at an angle, depending de-pending on the direction the wheel turns. If the direction of the wheel rotation is reversed, rever-sed, the studs will rotate in the tire tread in an attempt to correct the angle and may loosen and fall out. |
