Before the rain turns into snow and that snow turns into ice, it's a good time to assess necessary winter preparation for the car.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a fairly significant list of items to check in the car to prepare for the winter months, including antifreeze levels, changing out older windshield wipers and making sure the thermostat works properly. But most of the items on FEMA's list won't make a difference if the car's tires can't handle a little bit of snow and slick icy roads.
Last year's snow "catastrophe" showed the city's level of preparedness, but it also revealed to Seattleites they're not free from the dangers of icy roads either because sometimes, it doesn't just rain.
Still, after 30 years in the business, store manager of the Good Year Elliott Tire & Service Centers Waide Adams said folks still wait until it's too late to buy chains or the tires they need.
"Don't wait until the day it happens," Adams said. "A lot of companies are already getting depleted. You're better off getting them on sale now because you're going to get them on sale when it's snowing, if you can get them at all."
With the amount of snow last year, Adams said stores were running out of everything. Customers were also ruining chains quickly by putting them on when they didn't need to and aren't supposed to.
"Chains only work on compact snow and ice," Adams said. "Some people learn the hard way, just like some cars just need to be parked inside the garage in winter."
Driving through the passes like Snoqualmie or Stevens typically requires having a set of chains on-hand - whether or not they have to be put on that day. Though WSDOT said passenger vehicles are not required to carry tire chains, should weather and road conditions take a turn for the worse and the requirement to put chains on all vehicles is given, all vehicles without changes will be turned back and possibly cited by the state patrol.
However, there may be exemptions permitted for four-wheel/all-wheel drive vehicles if the driver has a set of chains still because Washington State Patrol can require all vehicles to chain up if they deem it necessary, four-wheel drive or not. For more information on tips for safe winter driving and Washington's laws for tires and chains go to wsdot.wa.gov/winter/faq.htm.
Apart from owning chains, Adams said it's worthwhile to invest in studless winter tires that have been approved for mountain use; these tires are branded with a mountain or snowflake symbol on the side of the tires.
Though there are many all-season tires, tires with this symbol have been approved for use in severe winter conditions, a step further than the standard mud and snow (MS) ratings of tires. Because almost every tire is branded MS now, Adams said MS has lost its meaning so the snowflake/mountain symbol is meant to be the new standard to designate a better winter tire.
These studless winter tires have become a recognized substitute for studded tires, which Adams said are a thing of the past. Because of the damage studded tires cause to the roadways, Washington only permits studded tires between Nov. 1 and March 31.
Instead of studded tires, Adams suggests Assurance tires for passenger vehicles, which feature TripleTred Technology - tred patterns for ice, water and dry roads, and their equivalent for SUVs, the Fortera TripleTred tires.
If drivers invest in these types of tires they can avoid having to change out their tires for the few cold months of winter.
"You pay more for that but then you don't have to buy two sets of tires, or pay to have them changed out," Adams said. "The thing is you pay for what you get. It's a matter of what you want for your car."
At the end of the day, when it snows it still comes down to two things: a driver's common sense and how well the state and city take care of the roads.
"Around here," Adams said, "it doesn't matter what you have if they don't plow the roads."[[In-content Ad]]
