The CBC Talks Winter Tires

Recently, on CBC Radio on November 28, 2012, they covered the subject of winter tire use in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Apparently it's not all that simple to determine how many NL drivers actually change over from regular to winter tires when cold weather sets in.

Have a listen. Transcript of talk follows.

Background noise: Sound of tires spinning in the snow.

Anthony: OK there are two sounds that put fear in people’s minds and one is a dental drill; the other is the sound of tires spinning because you know that means you’ve got to get behind your vehicle and push. Well the snow that we woke up to yesterday morning had many of us talking about winter tires and just how many of us there are…it’s that typical scenario when people say: “oh, I meant to do this last week. Now Cec had some data in a press release from the Rubber Association of Canada and that release said 46% of drivers in this province use winter tires and not long after we started talking about it we received some information that the province had its own numbers that tell a somewhat different story and Cec joins me once again. Hi there…

Cec: Yeah it’s a completely different story from the provincial government as far as winter tire usage goes…ah…the province says it’s much greater than one-half. We received an email, Anthony, from Government Services that says in 2009 that Department got the province’s statistics agency to conduct a survey on winter tire usage. And this survey showed that about 85% of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are using winter tires on at least one of their vehicles. And that number is higher in the St. John’s area with over 92% of drivers installing winter tires on at least one of the vehicles in the household. And the survey also showed that where a person is over 65, winter tire usage was about 85%. Now the thing that I’d like to stress when I read these numbers is that they say that it’s on at least one of the vehicles that they own. Where you have more than one the numbers are a bit different.

Anthony: I guess though that still there’s a difference between the province’s numbers and this Rubber Association. What accounts for the difference?

Cec: Well we’re not sure yet and we’re trying to find out. The Rubber Association says nationally 52% of Canadians drive with winters on. In this province it’s about 46%. But that’s not according to government officials here.

Anthony: But what is this Rubber Association?

Cec: The press release that we got the other day says that it is an association that represents tire makers. That’s all it says. And it also says that a study was done in Quebec about three years after Quebec made winter tires mandatory and that that research shows that winter accidents dropped by about 5% resulting in 575 fewer injuries and also too I’d like to point out, Anthony, that the provincial government’s information says that Aviva Canada Insurance is saying that Newfoundland and Labrador filed fewer insurance claims because of winter driving accidents than anywhere else in the country, And they attribute the low number to people here properly equipping their vehicles. As well as planning their days better when driving in harsh conditions. And we did get an email last night just before I went to bed. I got something from the Rubber Association saying that they’re going to contact this government department here, Government Services Newfoundland, and they’re going to compare notes and try to clarify the Association’s position in terms of how they arrived at their numbers. So the Rubber Tire Association is looking into it and I guess that’s the question for us this morning. I mean is it? Do half of us use winter tires or is it much higher than that? And hopefully we’ll get some feedback from our listeners on it.

Anthony: Yeah, and later in the show you’ll be talking to a guy who makes his living and his livelihood off of changing and selling tires.

Cec: Yes, I’ll be popping down to King’s Bridge service Station in St. John’s at the bottom of Kenna’s hill there. We’ll do that after the National News at 8:30.

Anthony: All right Cec. Talk to you then…and before that as well. Now as you heard Cec mention, we’d like to hear what you think. 576-5259. I don’t know…a survey that says 85% of people in this province are using winter tires on at least one of their vehicles. It sounds kind of high to me but I haven’t done the polling I don’t know…ah…your thoughts. 576-5759. We’ll try to get to the bottom of why there’s this discrepancy on winter tire usage in Newfoundland and Labrador.