THUNDER BAY – Northern Ontario is no stranger to hazardous road conditions in the winter, but there are still drivers who refuse to use snow tires.
Concern over rising accidents in the winter months led the Community Traffic Awareness Committee to demonstrate the need for winter safety precautions in North-western Ontario. On Wednesday residents gathered at the Community Auditorium parking lot for a lesson on winter safety.
"Northwestern Ontario drivers can face unrelenting winter conditions and heavy snowfall," said Tom Marinis, CTAC member.
The CTAC members demonstrated the importance of having winter tires by driving through a make-shift course setup in the auditorium’s parking lot at 40 km/h. With one vehicle equipped with winter tires and the other with all-season, the CTAC showed the exact stopping distance of each car.
The vehicle with winter tires, even at a slow rate of speed, managed to come to a full stop more than a metre before its all-season tire counterpart.
The CTAC stress that winter tires allow drivers to maintain control on the roads despite winter conditions, which can effectively reduce the number of accidents.
"We live in the North and we obviously have some severe and difficult driving conditions,” said MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay – Atikokan). “Every year we all witness many injuries and unfortunately deaths that are associated with winter driving.”
The CTAC hopes by addressing the need for winter tires, safe driving practice will be encouraged across the region.
