Number of Manitoba drivers using snow tires appears to be growing

Growing number of Manitobans buying snow tires Jon Hendricks reports on the increase in Manitobans buying snow tires, and an MPI program that could be contributing to the growth.

Manitobans knew a blast of snowy weather was on its way, and it arrived on schedule Wednesday.

Swirling snow swept through the city, putting drivers to the test. Many of them met that challenge with the help of winter tires.

The tires are a new purchase for Winnipegger Kevin Thiessen.

"I just got them about five days ago,” he said. “They were expensive. But the investment that I'm going to keep myself, and whoever in that vehicle safe is worth it to me."

It appears more and more drivers are coming to a similar conclusion.

Glenn Gamble from Ultimate Auto Service says about 75 per cent of his clients now have snow tires, a number growing annually.

"Every year we sell more and more," said Gable. "Throughout October we sold quite a few tires for people getting new sets who haven't had them before."

In 2014, Manitoba Public Insurance began administering a provincial winter tire program. It offers low-interest financing to buy winter tires.

So far, there have been 109,000 loans processed.

"So I would say it's been received very well by Manitoba drivers," said Brian Smiley, spokesperson for MPI.

MPI says it’s too early to say if the winter tire program is resulting in reduced collisions. It says it needs about a decade of data, with about 80 per cent of the vehicles on the road being equipped before it could do a proper comparison.

At the moment, about 52 per cent of the cars on the road have winter tires, which MPI believes can offer needed safety benefits.

"On a bad stormy winter day, MPI can open well over 1000 collision claims," said Smiley. "I think we can all agree that is a lot, and we don't want to see that."

Of course winter tires aren't magic. MPI says the most important component to staying safe is that drivers slow down and drive to the conditions on the road. Speed limits are set for ideal conditions, and slick, snow covered roads are clearly not ideal.