OLYMPIA, Wash. (Jan. 26, 2010)—A plan by the Washington Department of Revenue to introduce a bill banning studded winter tires into the state's legislature apparently won't come to pass this year, according to the Northwest Tire Dealers Association.
Late last year, NWTDA News ran an item that the Department of Revenue, together with the state's Department of Transportation, would introduce the bill soon after the Washington legislature's 2010 session began Jan. 11.
However, the bill has not been introduced, and all current signs are that it won't be, said NWTDA Executive Director Dick Nordness. It wasn't plain, Nordness said, whether this was an internal decision within the Department of Revenue or a sign that other state government officials did not support the measure.
A Seattle Times article from February 2009 quoted advocates of a studded-tire ban as saying such a ban would save Washington more than $18 million annually in road damage. Since 1971, Washington has allowed the use of studded tires from Nov. 1 to April 1 annually.