Studded tyres to be changed to summer tyres today at the latest

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According to Finnish law, motorists are obliged to change the studded winter tyres on their cars to summer tyres by today at the latest.
      However, studded winter tyres can be used even after today, if the road conditions or wintry weather call for their use.
     
Moreover, friction tyres can be used all year round, as they do not have any studs, and as a result they do not cause quite the same damage to bare road surfacings - in the form of rutting and dislodging asphalt - as their studded colleagues.
      The increased particle pollution in the spring as a result of the dust kicked up by studded-tyre use has meant that the issue of a possible blanket ban has remained at least warm in Finland for many years. Many believe that the improved grip given by studded tyres only gives drivers a false sense of security, and that were they to be prohibited, drivers would soon learn to drive - perhaps less immoderately - in winter conditions on the all-weather friction tyres.
     
The Finnish mobile police nevertheless do understand that continued wintry road conditions can justify the use of studded tyres, while even those who are using studded tyres in dry road conditions will not be monitored or fined immediately after today.
      In general, the police have begun to notify motorists over the use of studded tyres no sooner than at the end of May.
     
Motorists are also advised to check the condition of their summer tyres before switching to them.
      In Finland, studded winter tyres are legal from the beginning of November until the Monday a week after Easter.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Use of “silent” asphalt would reduce road noise and dust (17.1.2008)

See also:
  Oslo introduces studded winter tyre charge in order to improve air quality (2.11.2005)

Links:
  Studded tyres (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat