(A) General regulations.
(1) For the purposes of these regulations,
WINTER-TYPE MUD AND SNOW TIRES are defined as any new, recapped, retreaded, or rebuilt tires for rear wheels of motor vehicles, or if a vehicle is equipped with front-wheel drive, snow tires must be mounted on the front axle, the snow tires having antiskid patterns impressed or cut into the treaded surfaces to form bars, buttons, or blocks which may contain perforations, ingredients, or metallic elements especially designed to give effective traction on snow, mud, or ice-covered streets. Worn or damaged tires which no longer provide the traction or perform the function of snow tires shall not constitute snow tires within the meaning of this section.
(2) All snow tires manufactured after January 1, 1976, will be permanently labeled on the sidewall with the words "mud and snow" or any contraction using the letters "M" and "S," e.g., MS, M/S, M-S, M&S, and the like.
(3) A specially designed conventional radial tire built by five tire manufacturing companies (Uniroyal, Goodyear, General, Goodrich and Firestone) and so designated as a snow tire has embossed in the sidewall of each tire a traction performance certification number. The sidewall of each tire designated as a snow tire contains the letters "TPC" followed by a four-digit number.
(B) Criteria.
(1) Tires acceptable as snow tires shall be:
(a) Tires with an embossed sidewall designation as a "snow tire," a TPC number or the designation contained in the Rubber Manufacturers' Association labeling system;
(b) Tires for which a manufacturers' certificate of snow tire designation has been issued and the certificate is in evidence; and/or
(c) Tires which have been cut with antiskid patterns to form bars, buttons, or blocks.
(2) A tire that does not meet one of the above three requirements is not a snow tire. Additionally, all tires, snow or otherwise, must be free of cuts, cracks, or other damage that exposes body cords, and must have at least two thirty-seconds of an inch in depth of tread to be legal for highway operation.
(Prior Code, § 160-21) (Ord. 1-80, passed 2-19-1980)