Can You Drive on Winter Tires Year-Round?

Understanding the effects seasonal changes have on your vehicle can help you to anticipate little issues before they can become larger problems. You may live in a climate that requires winter tires for driving in snowy conditions but the inconvenience of changing them every year has you tempted to skip the task and just drive on your winter tires year-round.

Some states actually have laws against driving on winter tires in the summer if they have studs embedded in them, as these destroy the asphalt over time. Even if your tires aren’t studded, their design and chemical composition is specifically for freezing temperatures and snowy conditions. Because cold temperatures make everything stiff, winter tires compensate with a more flexible rubber that is too flexible for the heat of summer and will wear down far more quickly than summer tires.

Another reason winter tires aren’t appropriate in the summer is that the tread pattern prohibits proper contact with the road, reducing response time in situations where time might be of the essence.