Road Safety: Tackling Winter Roads with Alpine Tires
Author: Georg Weinand
From now on, in winter road conditions, tires fitted to cars must bear the Alpine symbol. These tires have a distinct qualitative advantage over older tires bearing only the M+S symbol. However, regular tire checks and adjusted driving habits also ensure that drivers reach their destination safely in winter.
As of this October, cars with domestic and foreign license plates in Germany may only use tires with the so-called Alpine symbol - a three-pointed mountain peak with a snowflake inside - in winter road conditions. Tires bearing only the M+S (Mud and Snow) symbol are no longer permitted, as are, naturally, summer-only tires. According to the German Road Traffic Act, winter conditions are defined as black ice, slippery snow, slush, ice or frost (Section 2 (3a) StVO).
Anyone who has been reluctant to part with their old M+S tires now has a good reason to do so, as the penalties for non-compliance can be high. The fine is comparatively low if the police take a look and discover the wrong tires. In this case, a fine of 60 euros is due, plus one traffic point in the Flensburg register. If you obstruct other road users with your vehicle, the fine rises to 80 euros and if you endanger others, you pay 100 euros. In the event of a traffic accident, drivers could also face major insurance issues.
Alpine tires are significantly better than M+S tires
Anyone who thinks that this legal reform was the brainchild of some bureaucratic backroom is mistaken. There are solid reasons why M+S tires are on their last legs in Germany.
The difference in quality compared to Alpine tires is significant: “Tires with the M+S symbol are not subject to any technical requirements in terms of their winter suitability. Although they usually have a coarser profile and greater tread depth, this does not automatically imply that these tires are more suitable for winter road conditions than conventional summer tires,” explains DEKRA tire expert Christian Koch. In winter, it is much more important to have a flexible rubber compound and a special tire design with many small sipes to increase grip on the road surface.
As early as the 1990s, initial studies conducted in North America revealed that there was no significant difference in quality between conventional summer tires and M+S tires on winter roads. As a result, the North American tire industry agreed to resolve this shortcoming and, after a few years, introduced standardized procedures with defined tests and criteria for winter tires. “These provisions were later incorporated into an ECE regulation in Europe and also apply in the European Union,” says the member of the German Road Safety Council's (DVR) tire task force. “Among other things, Alpine tires have to demonstrate in extensive tests that their braking performance is at least seven percent higher than that of a reference tire in the test without the Alpine symbol.”
Get your tires checked regularly
So-called all-season tires also bear the mountain and snowflake symbol. “The quality of all-season tires has increased in recent years - not only because technology has improved, but also due to greater knowledge of tire compounds and treads,” explains Koch. In any case, most all-season tires are actually “winter tires with summer tire properties”, as the expert puts it. One reason, he says, lies in the standard test procedures used by newspapers or automobile clubs, which generally test all-season tires in the cold season and particularly scrutinize the winter properties of the tires.
It is difficult to determine how many drivers are still driving with old M+S tires, as no statistics are compiled. However, since these tires were discontinued by the end of 2017 if not before, not only their road performance but also their age is increasingly becoming an issue. Christian Koch has a clear position on this: “If tires are older than ten years, they should be replaced immediately; this applies to all tires, whether for summer or winter. There are even corresponding regulations for authorities or the fire department or armed forces.” DEKRA further recommends having car tires checked by specialists after the seventh year. It's also advisable to have the mechanics look over the tires during other trips to the garage, for example during regular services. “It's not uncommon for tires to suffer minor damages over the course of the year that initially go unnoticed, such as small run-in nails. In the long term, however, this can have serious consequences,” the expert explains.
Four-wheel drives have no advantages when braking
Christian Koch shares two winter tips for owners of all-wheel drive and electric vehicles. “All-wheel drive vehicles have significant advantages in winter road conditions, especially when accelerating and starting off. In conjunction with the electronic assistance systems, the drive forces are distributed to the individual wheels in a targeted manner, which largely prevents spinning when starting off,” he explains. When braking, however, these benefits disappear when compared to front and rear-wheel drive vehicles. In this case, the same applies to everyone: anticipatory driving, adapted speed and early braking are the best ways to avoid accidents on slippery roads. Acceleration is part of what makes electric cars so attractive to many users under normal conditions. However, the much more direct transmission of power to the wheels compared to conventional drives can also have its pitfalls in winter. What's more, for e-cars and combustion engines alike on bridges or in woodland the road can quickly become slippery, even though there is no danger to be found otherwise. This is where you should pay particular attention when accelerating to avoid losing control of the vehicle.