Automatic snow tires throw chains at your wheels [video]

Granted a passenger car is not a heavy truck or bus, but living in the upper Midwest, I&#x27;ve learned that snow tires make a huge difference for winter driving. I&#x27;d heard the folklore that snow tires are more important than all wheel drive for handling on both snow and ice, and having used them for a few years now, I&#x27;m a believer. So called &quot;all season&quot; tires are not snow tires.<p>You can get a complete set of snow tires, mounted and balanced on rims, delivered to your door by Tire Rack (no relationship, just a happy customer). If you don&#x27;t want to change the tires yourself, there are shops that will change them out and store them for you.

I was a firefighter in a past life. These were installed on all our engines and trucks. They worked OK in snowy conditions up to an inch or so, then thy stopped having enough clearance to throw under the tire. We rarely used them and made sure to follow forecasts closely and chain half our equipment in anticipation. Anecdotally, these may work OK in areas where snow is not as common or often, but wind up next to useless where they might otherwise be considered helpful.

These have been common in North America for large trucks operating in snowy places for decades - school buses, dump trucks, etc.<p>Handy because you don&#x27;t have to stop&#x2F;get out&#x2F;interrupt service - just flip a switch and you&#x27;ve got improved traction!

They look like they would improve traction while moving, but when braking I could see the chains slipping out from under the tires letting the vehicle slide. Not fun on icy roads.<p>Seems like a great solution for light snow&#x2F;mild ice but I would not want to trust my life to these in harsh conditions.

These have been around since at least the 70s.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.onspot.com&#x2F;en-US&#x2F;about-onspot---about-us&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.onspot.com&#x2F;en-US&#x2F;about-onspot---about-us&#x2F;</a>

Was expecting Batman style chains that autonomously grapple onto the tires. These are not those.

What if a chainlink breaks and goes flying through someone&#x27;s windshield? Seems like a major safety hazard.

30% more traction sounds ... Really bad.<p>Aren&#x27;t real snow chains more like 300% more traction in the right conditions, since regular tyres offer basically no traction?

Freaking cool, but maybe a slight projectile hazard?

Do they make them for motorcyles?

Was trying to find some reading material on these that addressed the question: what happens when large debris makes contact with the control arms for this? I&#x27;ve seen large chunks of ice that are dense enough and heavy enough to cause undercarriage damage.

Crazy coincidence with this post going live a few hours after I used tire chains for the first time.

These are already exciting, but the music really takes it to the next level.

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Would be useless if the snow is actually deep ?