Information materials for the Unified Road Safety Day "Winter tuning for cars - the right tire tread"
27 November 2020 of the year the State Traffic Inspectorate conducts a Single Day of Road Safety under the motto: «Зимний тюнинг для машин – правильный протектор шин!», as well as a preventive action under the same name with 25 November to 04 December 2020 of the year. Основной целью проведения мероприятий является подготовка автомобилей к эксплуатации в зимних условиях.
Most accidents, including with grave consequences, in the autumn-winter period occurs due to insufficient adhesion of the car tires to the road surface. Night frosts and daytime rainfall make the road dangerous. On slippery roads, the coefficient of adhesion of tires to the road decreases several times, the braking and stopping distances increase accordingly.
Winter tires allow you to feel more confident on the winter road. They significantly improve vehicle handling and help reduce braking distances..
Tire change is mandatory from 1st December.
According to paragraph 207-1 Road traffic regulations, approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus from 28.11.2005 № 551, when participating in road traffic with 1 December to 1 March vehicles with a technically permissible total weight up to 3,5 t inclusive, cars and utility vehicles with a technically permissible total weight over 3,5 t, as well as buses with a technically permissible total weight up to 5 t must be equipped with winter tires. Winter tires for motor vehicles, designed for use on icy or snowy road surfaces, are installed on all wheels and must be marked with a marked sign in the form of a mountain peak with three peaks and with a snowflake inside it or signs "M + S", «M&S», "M S" or "All Seasons" and have a residual tread height of at least 4 mm.
Certainly, with the arrival of the winter season, many motorists have a question, is it worth changing summer tires to winter ones? The only reasonable answer is definitely "YES". After all, safety in various road conditions can be achieved, only in case that, when the vehicle is equipped with the appropriate tires.
Winter tires are very different from summer tires.. They have cuts in the tread blocks, so-called lamellas. Which have different shapes and profile depths, to increase the coefficient of traction. The visible differences are only part of the benefits of winter tires.. Winter tires are made from a special rubber compound, which help ensure good grip at low temperatures, and most manufacturers add silicon and components to the mixture to increase the tire's functionality.
Winter tires show their superiority, especially at low temperatures, even on dry asphalt. Car braking test results, equipped with good winter tires, showed, that the braking distance is on average 30% lower compared to summer tires. The question often arises, whether it is necessary to install winter tires with a smaller tread width, than summer. This is a pretty good solution, if you are using summer tires with a low profile. However, you should not change the outer diameter of the wheel. (the difference should not exceed 2%), accordingly, the profile height should increase.
Some motorists prefer to use all-season tires and they consider, what is the best solution, which will save money. This is only reasonable if the car is mainly used in urban areas., when the roads are more, less cleaned. But road services do not always cope with snow removal, especially during heavy precipitation.. In case you travel long distances outside the city limits, then the use of winter tires is a necessary safety measure.