I carry chains, but I would never run them in town on paved roads unless it was a serious emergency. Of course, mine are pretty heavy duty link chains with v-bar's. The thin cable style chains might be ok in the city, but i've never really felt like I needed them. Not even in this last storm. I never even put my truck into 4wd this storm, and I was out in it both days driving to and from work.

 

i think it is illegal to run chains in any town unless it is an emergency.

 

If I were at the bottom of that hill seeing all those cars piled up and absolutely had to get to the top (with no option to go around it) I'd chain up and sneak right past any cops who might be too busy dealing with the wreck to give a darn about my chains.

Thanks for setting me straight on that. I saw quite a lot of the Springs one winter (94/95) when I was involved in a big water pipeline that crossed the Academy, and I didn't see much ice or hear much about it -- must have been a weird year or something. Going south it was like going from winter to spring right around Castle Rock... but it was cold cold cold inside that 110" pipe!

 

if i saw a street like that i would toss chains on and keep them on till i got home. i don't even think a cop would know what to give you a ticket for even if he saw you with chains on. they would probably have to look into it.

 

Guess Im a Jack *** too!

 

You all are missing perhaps the most important winter safety tip of all.

Stay off the road as much as possible. Don't make those little pleasure trips for this or that at the store, Really plan out your weeks, especially when the temp is sub freezing/ snowing. You really should only be going out for the bare necessities/work.

Common sense is better then any set of chains.

 

Haha i can't really do that here in montana since it snow atleast 7months outta the year lol. But good point especially in places that don't see a lot of snow. Only time i wont go out much is if we get 3-4ft of snow and thee roads are not passable, or if we have blizzard conditions(usually stay at fire hall to avoid the hass of driving there if we bust a call).