PORTLAND, Ore. — It's another annual rite of spring in the Pacific Northwest. March 31 typically marks the end of studded snow tire season. Oregon and Washington law allows drivers to use studded snow tires from late fall through early spring, Nov. 1 through March 31, with occasional extensions when wintry weather persists.
Procrastination may cost you. The fine for driving with studded tires out of season is $136 in Washington and $165 in Oregon.
The ritual also comes with never-ending debate. Should studded snow tires be legal in either state? Should drivers who choose studded tires pay an additional fee?
These are legitimate questions when you consider the yearly wear and tear on the roads attributed just to studded tire use. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) released new estimates this year, totaling up to $33 million. The Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) estimate from 2014 is $8.5 million.
We posed that question to a few drivers gassing up at Radio Cab in Northwest Portland's Slabtown district.
"I-84, I remember, it had ruts in it, I swear, a couple inches deep," said one driver, JR. "If you wanted to switch lanes, you had to really jerk the wheel and you felt your car, you just went with the ruts."
The damage on I-84 was hard to miss before the Banfield was repaved in 2013 (video of that project here) to fix the wear and tear, some of which was caused by studded tires.
"I think the person that gets the benefit should pay for the service, generally," said another driver, Elziabeth. "That seems fair."
In Washington, drivers do pay a one-time $5 fee tacked on to the sale of each studded tire. There’s no such fee in Oregon, which is just fine for another driver named Clark, who has lived in snow country for years.
"They tax us enough for everything," Clark said. "Do a better job on the roads."
According to ODOT, studded tires are useful about 1% of the time. That’s about 3-4 days in an average winter in Central Oregon, even fewer days on the west side of the Cascades. The number of drivers using them has trended down in the past 20 years, with about 4% of Oregon drivers still putting them on each winter.
Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, known for harsh winters, don’t allow studded tires at all, instead relying on salt. Meanwhile, Oregon State Police said they’ve issued about 370 citations in the past four years for “unlawful use of metal objects on tires."