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04. 11. 09. - 16:00

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04. 11. 09. - 16:00

Only 60 per cent of Vienna cars have winter tyres

By David Rogers

Only 60 per cent of drivers in Vienna have had winter tyres mounted on their cars as wintry weather arrives in the Austrian capital.

Car club ÖAMTC expert Friedrich Eppel added today (Weds) that 90 per cent of drivers had had winter tyres mounted in eastern Austria and mountainous areas.

He recommended that drivers keep winter tires on their cars from the beginning of November through Easter, as it is impossible to predict when a storm or low temperatures could cause wintry conditions on streets and roads.

Yesterday’s combination of rain and snow created a grey area for the Vienna police. Official Peter Goldgruber said: "It is debatable whether we already have wintry conditions on city streets."

He warned that drivers who drove in such conditions without winter tires or chains faced fines of 35 Euros - a regulation that has been in place since 1 November.

ÖAMTC tire expert Friedrich Eppel said tires qualified as winter tires if they had the marking M+S and a tread at least four millimetres deep. He added that the tread’s profile and the tire’s structure had to be such that the tire would provide better driving quality in slush, ice and snow than summer tires.

Eppel warned that some summer tires had a M+S marking but were unsuitable for driving in wintry conditions.

Austrian Times

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