Every year, sure as the snow falls, some sensible soul in Olympia will introduce a bill to ban the use of studded tires, those perennial wheels of destruction. And every year, as if suffering from agoraphobia, the common-sense bill goes nowhere.
Apparently years of spinning their wheels on this issue has caused supporters to take another tack: Bills this year propose not banning studs, but phasing them out. Bills in both houses would require drivers to buy a permit each year to use studs, with the money helping repair roadway ruts. The House bill calls for a $100 annual permit, with a violation carrying a $500 fine, the Associated Press reported. The Senate version calls for a $75 annual permit with a $75 fine.
Joe Tortorelli, vice chairman of the Washington State Transportation Commission, told the Spokesman-Review he supports phasing out studs to save millions on highway and street maintenance. “I think it’s time,” he said. Actually, it’s well past time.
The state Department of Transportation, the Transportation Commission and the Federal Highway Administration have for decades battled against the use of the tires. In 1971, the DOT was able to get the use of them restricted from Nov. 1 to April 1. That was about the last victory over studded tires in this state.
A permit system, which Oregon is also considering, may be a way to “phase out” the use of studded tires, but permits and fines are not enough to pay for the damage done by studs. The DOT estimates that studs cause $16 million worth of damage to Washington roads annually, though other published estimates range from $18 million to $27 million. The state has so many unmet transportation needs, it’s simply irresponsible to spend so much money fixing a preventable problem.
What we need to do is follow the lead of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Utah and other states (that have much snowier winters than we do) that have banned studded tires altogether. That’s because modern snow and all-weather tires work better — and are safer — than studded ones, without chewing up the roads. According to the DOT, studs provide some measure of improved stopping ability on untreated icy roads at or near freezing. But on a statewide average, such conditions exist just 1 percent of the time. On wet or dry pavement, studies show that cars with studded tires don’t stop as quickly because there’s less rubber in contact with the pavement.
Phasing out studs just delays what we know needs to be done, with the added insanity that it costs us millions of dollars in road repairs every year as we do so. But if that’s the only route to actually reach a ban, then approve the phase-out bill(s).
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