LEHI, Utah (ABC 4 NEWS) - Todd Gross was taken through a harrowing skid on a wet road by the Utah Highway Patrol Thursday afternoon. Our meteorologist, science report, and environment reporter was being shown the ropes as to what folks should look out for as the winter snows move in. The Patrol noted a sharp increase in traffic accidents at the beginning of each season.
The skidding patrol car had balding tires. Not only shouldn't you drive with bald tires, with tread under 1/16th of an inch, but you need to make sure you inflate your tires properly, not too much and not too little or the tread will be uneven. Low tread means more skids. Snow tires or all-season tires are best, although there can be additional improvements with studded snow tires.
Brent Pollack noted that although the studded tires grip better, he also added: "Nothing is good on ice, it's not going to do you any good for that."
Utah drivers tend to simply not slow down, or keep a safe distance from cars they are trailing. Glen Porter, also of the State Highway Patrol gave some concrete numbers: "An example of stopping distance at 55mph on dry pavement is 700 feet, and on snowy roads is 1450 feet, so it more than doubles your stopping distance
Glen also pointed out that folks may try to stretch out the number of months that they keep their old tires given the current economic situation. This is one place though that it is not "safe" to "save".
