Studded tire fee too low

The state legislators finally acted, proposing a $5 per tire fee on those who use studded tires. I can fully understand why local Republican representatives voted no.

Let me try to understand the logic behind how this fee will discourage those who use studded tires. For less than the cost of a meal for a family of four at Dick’s Drive-In, drivers can continue to use studded tires and chew up the state and city roads. To me, this sounds like an incentive, rather than a penalty.

They estimate revenue of $500,000 will help offset the annual cost from $7.8 million to $11 million in annual damage to Washington’s roads. And the tire sellers will get 10 percent of the fee. For what? A grade-schooler could do the math and realize the hypocrisy of the people who support this fee.

And this despite the fact that advances in tire technology, auto braking systems, all-wheel-drive/four-wheel-drive, traction control, etc., suggest that studs are irrelevant. It’s time for the legislators to develop some courage, and put a real bill together that will force drivers to go studless, or bear the true cost of the damage they cause.

Bernard Korth

Spokane