The provincial government of New Brunswick is recommending the use of winter tires but carefully chooses not to make them mandatory.
“I’m always saying, if you drive in the snow, drive slow,” said New Brunswick Public Safety Minister Denis Landry. “You have to be careful when you’re driving. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a good thing, but at the same time we’re not planning to make winter tires mandatory here in New Brunswick.”
Landry pointed out that even though winter tires are mandatory in Quebec, it did not stop automobiles from sliding around. A video that captured buses, a police cruiser, and even a snow plow skidding down an incline in Montreal went viral last week.
Other provinces are straightforward in their enforcement of winter tire usage. Winter tires are mandatory in Quebec between December 15 and March 15. In British Columbia, certain mountain routes require cars to use winter tires by law. In Ontario, insurance companies are required to give a discount or benefit to drivers who use winter tires.
The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) endorses the use of winter tires across the country, but is not calling on all provincial governments to make them compulsory.
Kristine D’Arbelles, a spokesperson for CAA, said that it is more important for motorists to learn how to slow down and adjust their driving to the weather and road conditions.
“Winter tires, on their own, are not a solution, and that’s why we’re not out there banging on every single door saying that they have to be law everywhere,” D’Arbelles told
CityNews. “We want to encourage drivers to use them as much as possible. Whether or not it needs to be law is still up for debate, and that’s why we leave that to the provincial governments. They know their territories much better than we do.”
The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada clarified that winter tires provide a better grip than other types once road conditions reach below 7° C.
Related stories:
BC’s motorists say they are not good drivers – do you agree?
Almost a third of Canadians think winter tires are a ‘cash grab’
