You do not need to fit winter tyres according to Polish law.

Poland:

You do not need to fit winter tyres according to Polish law. However, they are highly recommended by the Government, especially in rural areas. This is because there is very little in the way of snow clearing on the smaller country roads.

blackcircles.com/tyres/winter-tyres/laws-and-legislation

According to Blackcirles.com ' You do not need to fit winter tyres according to Polish law ' watching TVN this morning there have been a serious amount of road accidents since the weekend, due to winter conditions. I for one believe driving in temps below +5' c with summer tyres is irresponsible and equal to ' drink driving'. How many of you out there drive in winter conditions with summer tyres in Poland?

no, but you'd be an idiot not to

Depends where and what you're driving.

As I understand, if you have an accident OC/AC will only cover on summer tyres above + 5' c. Therefore it may not be illegal to drive on summer tyres during the winter, although technically you are not covered by your car insurance in case of collision/accident. This would suggest those driving on summer tryes in winter conditions are knowing driving without car insurance which is a criminal and punishable by law in poland.

Rubbish. An insurance company might try to avoid paying by giving the excuse that you had the wrong tyres on but that is because insurance companies are utter bastards. The simple fact is that there is no legal requirement to have summer and winter tyres and your car can and will pass the vehicle inspection in winter while shod with summer tyres, which means that your car is legally roadworthy and the insurance company have nothing to rely on in court (unless they put a specific clause into the insurance agreement; there certainly isn't one of those in my agreement and yes I have checked).


Utter bollocks.

Oh, and my car has had winter tyres on since the beginning of November.

Well, I would presume that most land rovers and their ilk would come fitted with all-purpose, all weather tyres.
But for the majority of us, it's something we simply have to do to avoid smashing into some babcia listeing to the 'cardinal' in her crappy maluch

Silly question.......how long/when is winter as far as tyres are concerned?
Particularly if car insurance is problematic if winter tyres are not fitted.

Sort of. But if you're driving on mainly snow and have a car with very skinny tyres, there is simply no need to have winter tyres (the car runs on top of the snow).


November to March or April.


It isn't problematic (although you almost certainly should have winter tyres).

Yea, makes sense. It's the feckin ice that'll get ya.
I had an ancient polo when I started driving here, didn't like the winter, did a full 180 one day and all I wanted to do was slow down. Thankfully road was empty except for a few teenage girls who just pointed and laughed....but sure, jaysus, I was well used to that as a teenager :P

My car went through the first technical inspection last week with summer tyres on and on friday I put winter tyres on.


Normally when it goes below + 7' c for three consecutive days.


No you would have summer tyres and winter tyres, I speak from experience.


I have just checked with Warta and there is no condition to fit winter tyres, although it is common sense to do so.

.

Yes, but even if you show up in mid February when there's 150cm of snow on the ground and the temperature is minus 30, your car still passes with summer tyres on.


Which was a bugger this year when it was cold and then warmed up!


That's who I'm with (I think). Of course, I'd expect them to try it on if I did have a prang with the wrong tyres on and made a claim.

Fit winter tyres..even if its not the law...

I just had a set put on my Mondeo here in Russia , it does make a difference..

Seen too many accidents where a minor loss of control has taken a car into the path of a big accident... not worth the risk...

Not sure of the physics on that one Harry. The larger the surface area the more likely the tyre is to sit on top of the snow. Take a look at snow tyres on Rally cars they are narrow because they are more likely to cut into the snow.

ABS and snow is an interesting subject to. Forgot to switch it off on my BMW Adventure once. An interesting and expensive experience. They don't bounce like KTM's but they are much stronger than your bones. Ouch! I did ask my insurance company about turning off the ABS on my Subaru STI as you could feel exactly what was going on when you braked on snow, and therefore in my opinion had more control over your destiny on them super low profile, super wide jobbies that they come adorned with. That was considered a vehicle modification and the insurance would be invalid.