Being new Canadian drivers with very little experience driving in snow, the prospect of winter driving over here is more than a little daunting. We have only been taught to drive in snow the British way – do not exceed 5 miles per hour, spin your wheels at every possible opportunity and be sure to do your part in making the roads grind to a halt with every snow fall, no matter how minor.

Witnessing the nonchalance of Canadian drivers as they plough their vehicles through deep snow at high speed is a humbling spectacle. Trying to emulate them without years of experience is not a clever idea. In my fortunately limited experience of driving in deep snow, traction is a luxury which is appreciated, but deemed purely optional by the Canadian driver. It is routine to see cars dashing through the snow with their front wheels rotating freely while the rear wheels struggle in vain to keep up. Cops and cab drivers arrogantly slide their vehicles around corners, seemingly losing control of the back end before deftly regaining control with perfect timing. In this intimidating environment, we decided it was imperative that we get winter tyres at the earliest available opportunity.

Cars in Canada are routinely fitted with all-season radials – tyres which attempt to pull off the tricky task of providing safe and economical driving in both summer and winter. The problem is that compromising with Canada’s winter driving conditions has an inevitable impact on safety. Hence the attractiveness of tyres designed specifically for winter conditions. The effectiveness and durability of such tyres has improved greatly in recent years, and demand has steadily grown, stretching manufacturing capacity to the limit.

What makes the tyres so special? Principally the type of rubber they are constructed from. Regular all-season tyres are made of hard rubber compounds, which are highly wear-resistant in normal road conditions. In freezing weather, however, the rubber contracts and hardens to the point where the tyres’ ability to grip the road is seriously compromised, ironically just at the time when snow and ice are likely to appear on the scene. In comparison, the winter tyres are made of much softer compounds which have significantly better grip in the cold. If you don’t believe me, watch this video produced by the Automobile Protection Association in collaboration with Transport Canada:-

Last month, Quebec introduced a law making the fitting of winter tyres on vehicles registered in the province mandatory. This decision was taken on the basis of research which revealed that only 10% of vehicles in Quebec did not have winter tyres fitted, but these vehicles were responsible for 40% of all winter accidents in the province.

The publicity surrounding the introduction of this law led to unexpectedly large demand for winter tyres in the rest of Canada. As unusually heavy early snowfalls affected Canada from coast to coast, drivers across the country rushed to get the tyres fitted. This demand, in addition to the extra orders from Quebec, soon led to serious shortages. We had hoped to get our tyres through my brothers-in-law, both of whom work in the trade, but even they couldn’t get hold of them. We were told that, as most of the tyres are manufactured overseas with long lead-times, production had already shifted back to summer tyres and all-seasons.

But yesterday, joy of joys, a speculative call to our local branch of Canadian Tire hit paydirt. They had just received a consignment of about 80 tyres of our size. We booked ourselves in without hesitation and got them fitted today. Driving the car home could only be described as an anti-climax. The pleasure of winter tyres is precisely the satisfaction of knowing that you are less likely to feel anything out of the ordinary, such as the steering suddenly becoming light as a feather as you glide gracefully into the path of an oncoming truck.

I’m not fooling myself that I can now drive just as I would in summer conditions, but it is reassuring to know that, as long as we drive carefully, my wife and I now have a much better chance of getting through the Canadian winter unscathed.