Studded snow tires are chewing up Utah's roads and giving motorists a false sense of security while actually reducing their level of safety.
That is the conclusion of the Utah Department of Transportation, which hopes the Utah Legislature will tighten the state's law governing use of the tires.
"We'd like to see the use of studded tires eliminated altogether if possible," UDOT operations engineer David Miles told an interim legislative committee Wednesday.
Currently, the state allows motorists to equip their vehicles with studded tires from Oct. 15 to March 31. And they can only be used on vehicles weighing 9,000 pounds or less, which restricts commercial trucks from using them.
Utah is not alone in its policy.
Seven other Western states also permit studded tires during the winter. But three of them — Washington, Oregon and Idaho — all have proposed legislation to further restrict their use.
And the snow-heavy states of Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Vermont already outlaw the use of studded tires.
Perhaps that's because the motorists, police officers and transportation officials in those states have learned through experience what Utah officials also have discovered — studded tires just aren't worth it.
Miles said research shows studded tires are effective at improving safety in only about 1 percent of cases.
"The other 99 percent of the time they actually decrease safety because you lose the contact with the surface," he said.
Shannon Halverson, legislative counsel for the Transportation Interim Committee, said she drew a similar conclusion from her own research. Studded tires only improve traction on untreated icy roads when the temperature is at or near 32 degrees. If it's warmer or colder, studded tires are less reliable than regular snow tires, she said.
The metal studs wear out paint stripes and raised pavement markers and increase noise levels on roadways. They also wear away pavement and cause ruts that contribute to hydroplaning. And on wet or dry pavement, vehicles with studded tires require a longer stopping distance.
Miles said studded tires also contribute to fine-particle air pollution.
Utah lawmakers have several options. They could:
Ban studded tires from Utah's roadways.
Shorten the time period within which studded tires can be used.
Allow only lightweight (aluminum) studded tires.
Require motorists who want to use studded tires to buy an annual permit. (The money would be used to repair the damage they cause.)
UDOT officials say they don't know how many Utahns currently use studded snow tires, but say a check of tire dealers showed a large number of sales in the Park City area.
Partly because UDOT cannot yet quantify the extent of studded-tire use, Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, said he hasn't "seen anything that's compelling" enough for lawmakers to further restrict use of the tires.
"All of this really is a lot of supposition and speculation," he said.
But fellow committee member Rep. Don Bush, R-Clearfield, offered a different point of view.
"I've never felt I had any need for studded tires," he said. "I don't think we'd be out of line to just outlaw them.
"It gives you a false sense of security. Sometimes it can be worse, anyway. It's fine with me if we ban them ."
The committee took no action on the matter, but Wednesday's meeting was the first of the interim session. The topic likely will come up again and the committee could be asked to consider endorsing proposed legislation for the 2004 session.
E-mail: zman@desnews.com