# Minimum safe tire tread depth for driving in light snow

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-safe-tire-tread-depth-for-driving-in-light-snow/604496>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 29, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-safe-tire-tread-depth-for-driving-in-light-snow/604496 "2011-11-29T20:58:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-safe-tire-tread-depth-for-driving-in-light-snow/604496/21 "2011-12-01T03:05:55Z")

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> [@OpalCat](#):
>
> I’ve never changed my tires for the seasons… how common is this?

In snow country, pretty common. There’s nothing better for winter driving than dedicated snows tires. In the greater Boston area it’s good to have, but if you travel to NH/VT/ME regularly or on roads that don’t get plowed right away it can be a life saver, literally.

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**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-safe-tire-tread-depth-for-driving-in-light-snow/604496/22 "2011-12-01T03:19:33Z")

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> [@Telemark](#):
>
> but if you travel to NH/VT/ME regularly or on roads that don’t get plowed right away it can be a life saver, literally.

I don’t, fortunately, since we can’t afford another set of tires right now.

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**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-safe-tire-tread-depth-for-driving-in-light-snow/604496/23 "2011-12-01T06:52:52Z")

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> [@OpalCat](#):
>
> I’ve never changed my tires for the seasons… how common is this?

In the Fennoscandic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway) it’s the rule, perhaps except from the southermost parts of Norway and Sweden. Here, you can even lose insurance coverage if it turns out that you’ve crashed while driving on summer tires in snow or on ice.

But we have real winter for about half the year 😉

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