Winter Safety Tips: Winter Tires

Vacations are here so are the breezy winds. Every year thousands of people face severe accidents due to poor grip of tires on slippery snowy roads. To all those residing in areas where they are blessed with snowfalls and winter rains, you need to know about winter tires.

Winter tires are almost similar to the regular ones; however, they are specially designed for use in cold and freezing conditions so as to maximize road grip and safety. Although, they look like the regular tires, but they serve a totally different purpose, and a lot of  technology is involved in the making of them.

These tires have extra groves called Sipes. These Sipes allow squeezing rubber into the road surface and displacing anything that might be interfering with the rubber road contact. These Sipes actually help the tire to bite the road so to keep it close to it rather than on the thin watery layer on ice which makes the car go out of control. Winter tires give better handling compared to when using regular tires on snowy roads.When using winter tires, tire pressure should be monitored religiously as the Sipes do not work properly with lower tire pressure, resulting in lower road grip.

Studies have proved that winter tires are more effective than the regular ones. Winter tires are going to stop 10-15 meters before on a particular speed proving that one could safely land into their own parking lot rather than just hitting the car in front or a wall.

Winter tires are not easily found in Pakistan due to very limited utility and very low awareness. Most people just use the regular tires during winters without realizing they are putting themselves and the passengers traveling with them in danger. People living in Northern areas of Pakistan must consider these tires as safety comes first as the cost of these tires is almost same as the regular ones, and even if they are a little expensive, they are not costlier than a precious human life.