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S1397.....................................................by TRANSPORTATION
TIRES - STUDDED - Amends existing law to prohibit the use of studded tires
between specified dates; to provide exceptions; to establish weight and
protrusion standards for studs in tires; and to prohibit certain trade
practices.
02/08 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/11 Rpt prt - to Transp
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1397
BY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS AS TO TIRE EQUIPMENT; AMENDING SECTION 49-948, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF STUDDED TIRES BETWEEN SPECIFIED DATES AND TO
4 PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS, TO ESTABLISH WEIGHT AND PROTRUSION STANDARDS FOR STUDS
5 IN TIRES AND TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN TRADE PRACTICES.
6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
7 SECTION 1. That Section 49-948, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 49-948. RESTRICTIONS AS TO TIRE EQUIPMENT. (1) Every solid rubber tire on
10 a vehicle shall have rubber on its entire traction surface at least one (1)
11 inch thick above the edge of the flange of the entire periphery.
12 (2) No person shall operate or move on any highway any motor vehicle,
13 trailer, or semitrailer having any metal tire in contact with the highway.
14 (3) No tire on a vehicle moved on a highway shall have on its periphery
15 any block, stud, flange, cleat, spike, or any other protuberance of any mate-
16 rial other than rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface
17 of the tire, except as allowed herein. It shall be permissible to use farm
18 machinery with tires having protuberances which will not injure the highway,
19 and it shall be permissible to use tire chains. Tires with bBuilt-in lugs of
20 tungsten carbide or other suitable material, hereinafter called studs, of rea-
21 sonable proportions specified maximum weight, as provided herein, may be used
22 upon any vehicle when required for safety because of snow, ice, or other con-
23 ditions tending to cause a vehicle to skid, that will not unduly damage the
24 highway, may be inserted if approved by the board. The board shall have the
25 power to revoke any permission for built-in lugs at any time it may determine
26 the lugs are unduly damaging the highways. Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-
27 trailers with tires having built-in studs are prohibited on public highways
28 between the dates of April 16 and September 30, annually, except as provided
29 in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection (3):
30 (a) Fire pumper/tanker trucks and ladder trucks belonging to fire depart-
31 ments and firefighting agencies are exempt from the prohibited dates.
32 (b) Special exemptions from the prohibited dates may be granted by the
33 Idaho transportation board if it is found by the board that enhancements
34 to public safety outweigh the increased pavement wear. Exemption requests
35 shall be directed to the Idaho transportation department special permits
36 office with the reasons the exemption is requested and the period of time
37 being requested along with economic and safety justification.
38 (4) The studs in a studded tire on motor vehicles, trailers and semi-
39 trailers operated on highways shall meet the following requirements:
40 (a) Studs shall not protrude more than two (2) millimeters from the sur-
41 face of the tire tread when originally installed.
42 (b) Studs shall individually weigh no more than one and one-tenth (1.1)
43 grams when installed on tires designed for wheel diameters of fourteen
2
1 (14) inches or less.
2 (c) Studs shall individually weigh no more than one and three-tenths
3 (1.3) grams when installed on tires designed for wheel diameters greater
4 than fourteen (14) inches, but not more than sixteen and one-half (16.5)
5 inches.
6 (d) Studs shall individually weigh no more than three (3) grams when
7 installed on tires designed for wheels greater than sixteen and one-half
8 (16.5) inches in diameter.
9 (5) Commercial tire retailers shall not sell studded tires with studs
10 exceeding the weight and protrusion limitations provided herein after July 1,
11 2004. Commercial tire retailers and tire shops shall not manually install
12 studs exceeding the weight and protrusion limitations provided herein after
13 July 1, 2004.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11888
This proposed legislation will amend Section 49-948, Idaho Code,
in an effort to reduce the amount of pavement wear caused by studded
winter snow tires by controlling the weights of studs allowed to be
installed by commercial tire shops. This proposal would also codify
the annual period that studded snow tires are prohibited and provide
for exceptions to the prohibited period for special vehicles and
special conditions. This proposal would eliminate the need for Idaho
Transportation Administrative Rule 39.03.46 that currently addresses
studded snow tire requirements. That rule will be repealed if this
legislation is adopted.
It has been proven by laboratory testing that the amount of pavement
wear as exhibited by rutting from studded tire abrasion of a
pavement is in direct proportion to the weight of the studs in
studded winter tires, everything else being equal. Reducing the
weights of studs to the values specified in the proposed legislation
would reduce studded tire pavement wear by half. The lighter-weight
studs would perform under winter driving conditions about as well
as the heavier weight studs now being used, according to studies
conducted in Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
Commercial tire retailers would have until July 1, 2004 to sell off
their existing inventory of heavier weight studs. After July 1,
2004, only tires with lightweight studs could be sold.
FISCAL IMPACT
If this proposal were to become law, the fiscal impact on the Idaho
Transportation Department (ITD) would be favorable due to increased
pavement life. Although lTD has not attempted to quantify the added
cost of pavement wear caused by studded tires, other states have.
As stated in the Idaho Transportation Department special report on
studded tires to the Fifty-Fifth Idaho Legislature Second Regular
Session 2000, Alaska estimated the annual cost to repair pavements
damaged by studded tires to be $5 million, and Oregon estimated the
annual cost at $24 million.
Contact
Name: John W. Goedde
Phone: 332-1355
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1397