Winter or all-season tyres mandatory

The Minister of Transport, Anca Boagiu, said on Friday at a press conference held in Suceava that from 1 November winter and all-seasons tyres would be compulsory for all those who own a vehicle and who drive on roads covered with ice or snow.

According to the minister “when a driver is caught driving a car without tyres adapted to winter conditions, on a section of the road where there is snow or ice, that driver will be punished”.

Also, Anca Boagiu added that both winter tyres and all-seasons tyres “can be used during the winter and the summer, depending on how each driver chooses to equip their vehicle”.

Even more, according to her statement, the measure has as a purpose the safety of the citizen in traffic.

“I do not want to give names, but I have recently seen what it means to not be properly equipped. Unfortunately, we really like to drive at full speed on the roads of Romania, despite all restrictions”, Minister Anca Boagiu said.

According to the Minister of Transport, the all-seasons tyres are assimilated to the winter tyres if they have the initials M and S.

A driver must buy tyres that meet the requirements written by the Romanian Auto Registry in the manual of the vehicle, and that carry the designation M+S (or M.S or M&S – mud plus snow).

Winter tyres, efficient on dry roads as well

Winter tyres are made of a special rubber with good adhesion to roads covered with snow, ice or glaze and when the temperature goes below 7 degrees.

“Since there is no reference to the tyres that are known as all-seasons tyres in the main documentation or in the applicable legislation, we consider that using tyres which do not carry the designation that certify their appropriate usage according to the weather conditions is against the legal procedure and is made exclusively on the driver’s responsibility”, the Minister of Transport specified.

In the case of vehicles that transport merchandise or people and are not equipped with winter tyres or chains, the driver will receive a fine between 2 500 and 4 000 RON, and have the licence suspended.

In case of an accident, an amount of money is added to the fine for fixing the roads and paying compensations for the damages produced.

Translated by: Violeta Mavrodin
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University