Democracy and studded tires

After reading the April 23 editorial page article on studded tires, I am delighted. The action of the Legislature described therein has at last carried the issue to the beginnings of a logical conclusion.

I have used studded tires continuously since they first became available on the open market around 1980 or so. I know that they do damage to the roadway. I also know that there are times that I wouldn’t get to our garage without them.

Unfortunately, I have seen no credible research documenting the cost, in dollars and cents, of the damage. I hope the Legislature causes some in-depth research to occur. If they do, I commit, in advance, to pay my fair share for the damage done by my beloved studs or kiss them goodbye as beyond my financial means.

In the meantime, I will gladly pay the $15 now to be assessed against my habit, which many deplore. This, I choose to think, is a democracy. Let each of us pay our fair share for the tires we use and knock off the yelling and screaming about it.

I took my studs off on March 31. I hated to see them go.

Wallace Foster

Colville