THE EFFECT OF STUDDED TIRES ON JOURNEYS AND DRIVER RISK TAKING

The object of this study was to investigate how drivers' behavior is changed when they start to use studless winter tires instead of studded tires. The study took two winters from 1992 until 1994. There were randomly selected 120 drivers from the register of vehicles in Finland. Of the two matched groups, the other one was given studded tires for their own cars and the other group received studless winter tires. The dependent variables were effects on exposure such as number, length, timing of trips in urban and outside urban areas. Also monitored were driving speeds, use of brakes and keeping headways. Driving behavior was monitored through two identical instrumented cars. The results of the study suggest that turning to studless winter tires doesn't change driving speeds markedly in the long run.