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--> --> Studded tires OK starting Thursday SALEM (AP) - Oregon drivers legally can use studded tires starting Thursday, but state transportation officials hope they don't. Authorities emphasize there are options for icy and snowy conditions that don't cause highway damage. The state Transportation Department says it spends about $11 million a year repairing road damage caused by studded tires and still deals with just a fraction of the problem. Lightweight, easy-on cable chains and new kinds of winter tires without studs are among the options. The agency says research shows that studded tires can be better than other tires on icy roads but less effective in other conditions. But some people just feel better with rubber and studs gripping a treacherous road, "and no amount of science is going to convince them otherwise," Pat Cooney, a Transportation Department spokesman, said Tuesday. "We encourage motorists to use any number of all-weather tires that are available, or chains," Cooney said. Oregon is of two minds on the issue, divided between rainy Western Oregon and east of the Cascades, where drivers commonly face icy or snowy winter highways. That split was evident in this year's Legislature, in which measures to ban studded tires died without much ado. Influential Senate President Gene Derfler of Salem endorsed a studded tire ban, citing improvements in other winter tires. House Speaker Mark Simmons, from the northeastern Oregon town of Elgin, had little use for a ban. He called studded tires "a basic necessity" in Eastern Oregon. Salem tire dealer Scott Ryan said improvements in rubber and tire design have caused sales to shift more to studless traction tires but that studded tires still make up about half of winter tires sold. "The technology is better than it was five years ago, including for tires on new vehicles," said Ryan, of Superior Tire Service. "Studless tires are as good or better for around here." He said studded tires can skid more easily than others when stopping on rain-soaked pavement. Another factor cutting into studded tire use, he said, is the popularity of four-wheel drive sport utility vehicles. Few owners of those buy studded tires, he said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing