Mobility federation Traxio advises car drivers not to wait for frost or snow to change their summer tyres for winter ones.
Make an appointment on time at the garage or tyre centre so that the change can go smoothly, Traxio said in a recommendation issued on Thursday. Timely fitting of winter tyres, coupled with an appropriate driving style, can make for a huge improvement in road safety, it added.
“Your car’s tyres are the only contact with the road surface and make the difference between a safe and a less safe drive,” said Traxio's Filip Rylant. “Indeed, summer tyres lose much of their efficiency from the moment the temperature drops below 7 degrees Celsius."
"Winter tyres, on the other hand, have a different rubber compound that allows them to remain smooth at lower temperatures," Rylant explained. "They also have a different tread: the tread blocks have many more sipes, which ‘break’ the water film on the roadway, so to speak, giving a winter tyre greater traction."
"This ‘claw effect’ ensures better grip on the smoother road surface in winter conditions,” Rylant added.
At low temperatures, a winter tyre guarantees better grip, resulting in a significantly shorter braking distance on a snowy or icy road. For example, the braking distance on a snow-covered road at 50km/hr. is 50 metres with a summer tyre and 23 metres with a winter tyre.
In Belgium, winter tyres are not compulsory. According to Traxio, a recent survey also showed that 6.5% of motorists drove around in full summer with winter tyres, “with all the adverse consequences in terms of wear, road holding and safety.”
