A new survey commissioned by Bridgestone and fielded by Harris Poll in September and October 2014 reveals that nearly three in five Canadians (58%) have installed or plan to install winter tires this season, compared to only 21% of Americans.
Why?
Safety was obviously the number one concern of Canadians (76%). Meanwhile, two thirds of respondents (68%) said they install winter tires because they perform better than other tires in winter conditions, and half of Canadians (49%) said they install winter tires because they live in an area that receives a lot of snow.
Moreover, the vast majority of Canadian drivers (86%) said they make an effort to prepare for winter driving by having an emergency kit in their vehicle and checking vehicle performance features such as tire pressure (69%), fluid levels (68%) and windshield wipers (66%). Ice scrapers (68%) and jumper cables (52%) are the most popular items they store in their emergency kits during winter.
In the event of a snowstorm, the Bridgestone survey shows that 82% of Canadians drive more cautiously, 75% allow more time to get to where they’re going, and 63% minimize the number of trips they must take. In fact, 35% of Canadians have missed a holiday gathering they were planning to drive to at some point due to bad winter weather.
The following infographic sums it up nicely:
Source: Bridgestone
