Just say no to studs
If folks want quieter road surfaces, we should join most other states by banning studded snow tires [“A lot is riding on ‘quiet pavement’.”, NWMonday Feb. 1]. Like little jackhammers, the sizzling sound one hears when studded tires go by is actually chipping away pieces of our road surfaces, increasing the roughness of the road and thus the noise generated when vehicles travel on them.
There is no need for fancy tests — just find a stretch of highway that is rutted and drive to the side of the lane where there is less stud damage. Smoothness and comfort improves while noise decreases markedly when one gets out of the ruts.
Safety and maintenance costs provide even better reasons to ban studs. The stud ruts collect water, increasing spray and hydroplaning problems. The studs result in the loss of about 15 percent of the tire’s basic traction on dry or wet roads, reducing traction for studded vehicles during that majority of driving that is on dry or just wet roads.
Banning studs would save taxpayer money by reducing the costs of maintaining our roads. The life of our roads’ pavement is drastically reduced by the accelerated surface erosion caused by studs.
Less than 3 percent of cars and light trucks in Western Washington use studs. Use is actually higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas. Keep this in mind if your legislator says banning studs is a divisive issue.
— Michael Tanksley, Woodinville