This year, for the first time I have fitted winter tyres to my Avensis. They are very impressive on snow, but also, as reported recently in Motoring Telegraph, significantly improve grip and stopping distances below 7 degrees centigrade. It seems to me that if these were compulsory in the UK from November to March (as in some European countries) accident rates would be reduced and lives would be saved. It would also do much to reduce the (costly) travel chaos the UK goes through every time we get an inch of snow.