Snow, ice, and frigid temperatures can make wintertime driving a challenge. Drivers deal with this in a variety of ways, from winterizing their cars and keeping emergency kits in their trunk to paying more attention to their tires. Unfortunately, some people mistakenly believe that reducing their tire pressure will improve their traction. Others understand that tires tend to lose air pressure in cold weather, but incorrectly assume that the solution is over-inflating their tires. As it turns out, while that’s not exactly helpful, it’s not harmless either. Over-inflating your tires puts both the tires and your safety at risk because it can cause wear on the center of the tires much faster than the remainder of the tire. That will result in losing thousands of miles of use on each tire. Even worse, it means having to replace your tires before their time, as well as reducing their traction. From a safety perspective, over-inflating tires reduces handling and increases the chances of a tire blow-out. You can find the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure listed on the sticker on the inside driver’s side door jamb, and that’s the pressure you should keep in your tires all year round.
