Spokane7
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April 2, 2010 in City
Studded-tire tax is a non-starter
The path driven by commuters on South Monroe Street shows the type of wear that studded tires can contribute to.
(Full-size photo)
It is a measure of the political force field surrounding studded tires that in this, the bleakest of times for state budgets, no one is trying to slap a tax or fee on the things.
Raise the sales tax? OK. Freeze salaries and cut services? Sure. Jack up tuition outrageously? All right.
So why not a rut tax?
Washington spends an estimated $15 million a year fixing up those stud ruts, and that doesn’t touch what’s spent in cities and counties. There isn’t any question about the source of that damage, and there are plenty of questions as to just how much good studs do. And in a winter like this one, the gap between their usefulness and the damage they cause is acute – the studs are simply grinding away at concrete and asphalt.
But you could not choose a bigger political loser than banning or taxing studs. It is nowhere among the options that lawmakers are debating as they wrangle over the final details in filling a $2.8 billion budget hole. You might as well run on the pro-income-tax ticket.
Efforts to eliminate or limit the use of studs have died a wide variety of deaths in Olympia, stretching back to the 1980s. Suggest a ban, and there’s a decent chance that someone, somewhere will at least hint that you’re a baby killer.
That’s especially true in Spokane, the state’s studliest city. The most recent state surveys showed that 32 percent of Eastern Washington drivers used studs; in Spokane, it was more than half. Those figures are seven years old, and have likely come down. Still, they suggest there is more to this than simple necessity. Spokane has worse winters than Seattle, sure, but not Republic or Colfax.
This comes down to something else. It’s almost superstition.
“When people are in the car and encounter a potentially life-threatening situation and end up with a bare-knuckle experience, and they attribute their (survival) to studded tires, no amount of information is going to disabuse them,” said Chris Marr, Democratic state senator from Spokane. “This is not totally a fact-based discussion. This is how people feel about their safety.”
Marr was the last guy to propose banning the studs. His bill last year met the same fate as the previous efforts: a quiet death. Or maybe not so quiet, given that it was preceded by the kinds of unfathomably strong opinions that come along with the subject.
We dig the studs, or a lot of us do. Marr says his mom is devoted to them. My own home is half and half. The studded half, I have to admit, probably could not get up our steep driveway a few days each winter without them.
Beyond that, though, I’m unpersuaded about the necessity. Scientists have found a pretty tiny range of circumstances in which the grinders actually help: smooth, icy conditions at about freezing temperatures. In those instances, studded tires really knock it out of the park, significantly improving a driver’s ability to stop and start. That’s according to research done in 2002 and 2003 by a pair of Finnish scientists.
But those conditions are awfully rare.
On icy roads in colder weather, studs are no better than snow tires. On snow, no better. On wet and dry roads, they’re worse – actually increasing stopping distances.
But this is an old song, and not that many people are really singing it anymore, especially in Olympia. If we’re going to allow the studs, it seems only fair that the people who use them ought to pay for the damage they cause. Especially now.
That’s not gonna happen, though. Studs are sacred. So get used to the ruts, if you’re not already. And get used to paying for them.
Shawn Vestal can be reached at shawnv@spokesman.com or (509) 459-5431.
The draw of the unknowable 
ttuling on April 02 at 5:07 a.m.
I’d pay such a tax. You underestimate how often roads near intersections in Spokane melt and refreeze into smooth ice. Thanks for accurately describing what studs are & aren’t good for. Also, do limits on the weight of each stud matter? Should ours be lowered?
Truthhurts on April 02 at 7:06 a.m.
This is just a use tax, as long as the additional cost of the additional road damage is charged, and no more.
If you want to use tires that tear up the roads, then pay for it.
misjustice on April 02 at 7:57 a.m.
I use studs on the rear wheels of my Mercedes (all season siped tires on the front), I’d glady pay the tax!
lewis8457 on April 02 at 8:02 a.m.
If we pay the tax will they fix the streets here in Spokane? or is it just another scam to get more tax dollars while not using the funds for the expected end result?
tomich99224 on April 02 at 8:21 a.m.
Here’s a novel idea. During a heaving rain the ruts fill up with water increasing the risk of hydroplaning. Since this is a problem that the state admits we have, if you’re involved in an accident that was contributed to by hydroplaning, SUE THE STATE
misjustice on April 02 at 8:25 a.m.
Lewis, there isn’t a tax; I was just saying that if there was that I’d gladly pay it…
tlundy on April 02 at 8:56 a.m.
It appears as if those that use studs would pay something to use them. So? Why doesn’t it fly? Because, too many politicians think they won’t get voted in again if they are involved in putting a stud tax through. Put a tax on studded tires. It isn’t a use tax, it’s to repair the roads!
clamp on April 02 at 9:07 a.m.
I use four studs so I can stop and go on our inevitable winter ice. I would gladly pay the tax. However, when I visited my daughter in Alabama their roads had ruts too. Studs? They do not have snow and ice or studs. Reason? Poor grade of asphalt. I wonder if that isn’t also a major part of our rut problem. Buy cheap - get cheap.
dtmelin on April 02 at 9:24 a.m.
I think too many people around here think that studded tires are THE cause of rutted roads. do they contribute to ruts? probably some…. but the fact that they have ruts in Alabama as Don points out, and here ‘s a link to an asphalt article that includes ruts as a problem in HAWAII, should make it pretty clear that studs are not the only cause of these ruts. The severity of our winters, and the grade of asphalt probably play a bigger role in why ruts appear.
http://www.hawaiiasphalt.com/index.php/pavement-distress.html
i think people need to lighten up about the issue. maybe we should tax everyone for everything they do. then we’ll be sure to get ‘em. I used a 3 stop-signs and 4 traffic lights while driving today…send me a bill for my part in those. Oh and why not charge me for the paint on the road too, since I changed lanes..and probably made a chip flake off.
misjustice on April 02 at 9:37 a.m.
The article did say that we are the “state’s studliest city.” Finally, a nomenclature that our city can be proud of! ; )
shawnv on April 02 at 9:45 a.m.
T — the Legislature passed a requirement for lighter studs a few years ago, and that probably has lessened the damage, though I don’t know of any efforts to quantify that.
As for asphalt quality and other factors: Studs surely aren’t the only problem with roads. Heavy trucks cause a different kind of rutting, on asphalt. But it’s hard to deny the differences in wear on concrete — here’s a WSDOT report comparing pavement wear in different states.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/mats/pavement/PavementsStuddedTiresFinalv2.pdf
If studs do this to concrete, what effect do they have on softer asphalt? They may not be the only cause, but they are a major one.
dtmelin — i’d agree with you about lightening up but for one thing: the state is beyond broke, and we are already looking at taxing every little thing. These little metal things cost us all money, at a time when we’re cutting services and raising other taxes.
mflett on April 02 at 9:56 a.m.
Obviously I would have to pay the tax should this be approved. I rarely drive in Spokane with my studded tires so my taxes wouldn’t even benefit the area in which I drive. And I have to say this past winter, the tire place I go to heavily persuaded me to purchase non-studded tires. I have to say, I struggled to stop on ice and had a difficult time getting up my drive way. An issue I never had with studded tires.
horse_feathers on April 02 at 9:59 a.m.
I’m not dismissing the problem of studded tires doing road damage but I always find it interesting that so many are willing to roll over like my fat yellow lab at home and ready to pay any tax that comes along. I would much rather we completly get rid of studded tires then put up with another tax.
misjustice on April 02 at 10:14 a.m.
There isn’t a tax horsefeathers…
And if there was (a tax), it would only impact those that purchase the item…so you are safe from any burden…
At any rate, the article makes it clear that this is a sacred political cow, the pols didn’t seriously consider taxing studded tires; even as other sources of revenue were sought to balance the budget.
dtmelin on April 02 at 2:51 p.m.
the whole issue seems like a cop-out to me. how about every car is just taxed more (insted of the eyeman $33 base fee) for using the roads, rather than trying to pin down one section of drivers? maybe stud-tire drivers should pay a yearly fee, people who commute into town a fee, heavy trucks a fee (which i know already exists), interstate users a fee, busses a fee, etc. Then the county/state could pony up for some better road materials that would hold up better.
It would be dumb if studded tire users were expected to entirely pay for (and get the blame for) road repairs that they are only partly responsible for….. That’s probably why this issue is not considered, not because it’s some sort of sacred cow that politicians won’t touch.
spokanesausage on April 02 at 5:52 p.m.
I love how a lot of folks driving big urban assault vehicals complain that we don’t need studs while all year long their vehical weight and the summer sun are displacing asphalt in our streets. And yes Spokane is something like 90% asphalt so my guess is that 4x4 cause more damage in a year in Spokane than studs.
But of course those urban assault vehicals can drive by me as I’m high centered on a pot hole.
Studliest! Nice Shawn.
richard_2010 on April 10 at 4:16 p.m.
New carbide studs are a lot less invasive on roads and the smallest can be use without intensive damage on roads.
Here is more information about them:http://www.maxigripstore.com/
Thx,
Richard