- Utahns may face winter driving conditions with expected valley snow on Wednesday.
- Sawyer Giles advises replacing tires at 4/32 inch tread depth for better traction.
- Utah's traction laws require 5/32 inch tread for canyon passes during storms.
SPANISH FORK — With measurable valley snow expected Wednesday, many Utahns could find themselves in winter driving conditions for the first time this season.
Ahead of that, workers offered a few refreshers about tire health, in hopes of keeping white-knuckle commuters from slipping, sliding and spinning out of control.
At Rocky's Tire Pros, 375 N. Main St., Sawyer Giles said too often drivers come in after fender benders due to bald tires.
"We get a lot of that or people, like, sliding into curbs when the storms come," Giles said during an interview with KSL. "They're like, 'Ah, if I would have swapped my tires or had better traction tires, I would have been able to stop or not slide into a curb.'"
In Utah, a tire is legally considered worn out when it has less than 2/32 of an inch in tread depth.
In lay terms, that length has historically been compared to the distance between the edge of a penny and the top of Abraham Lincoln's head on the penny.
Giles said drivers shouldn't let tires get that bald, and should instead seek out new tires when tires reach a tread depth of roughly 4/32 of an inch.
"The more tread you have, the better traction you're going to get in the wet and snowy conditions," Giles said.
Giles said that traction translates into better stopping distance and makes hydroplaning less likely.
"If you get a big puddle or something and you run into it with a bald tire or something like that, you're going to hydroplane and not end very well," Giles said.
Traction matters even more depending on where someone is headed.
Traction laws have been expanded this year in Utah so that four-wheel drive and chain requirements can be enforced up to 24 hours prior to a storm for canyon passes.
Under those expanded laws, a tread depth of at least 5/32 of an inch is required for tires when cars are headed into Big and Little Cottonwood canyons when the traction laws are in effect.
Giles said ironically ahead of potentially meaningful valley snow Wednesday, Rocky's Tire Pros had seen a lot of business from drivers wanting to remove their snow tires in favor of all-season tires.
"We've actually been taking some off for people way earlier than we normally do," Giles said. "They're like, 'We have no snow, I don't know why we have these on right now.'"
