Montreal police have handed out over 1,400 tickets for non-compliant tires in 2024

Tickets for no winter tires reach highs Montreal police are handing out record numbers of tickets for non-compliant tires.

The number of tickets Montreal police (SPVM) handed out to drivers who did not swap their winter tires or were driving with tires in poor condition exploded in 2024.

In 2023, SPVM officers handed out 471 tickets for tires in poor or not conforming condition and 238 for not being winter tires.

Up to Dec. 5 of this year, 853 tickets were handed out for poor condition and 552 for not being winter tires.

At 1,405, the number of tickets far surpasses the highest total of tickets in the past half-decade, which was recorded in 2018 when 882 offences were issued.

Here are the numbers in the past six years:

Some of those tickets were handed out when the SPVM set up checkpoints on Dec. 3 and 4 to check that vehicles were compliant with winter regulations and handed out 660 violations.

During that operation, 292 tickets were handed out to drivers who had not installed winter tires by the Dec. 1 deadline.

Tickets were also handed out for offending vehicles that had the following non-compliant parts:

Merson Automotive manager Celso Louro said driving with worn or non-compliant tires is negligent.

“It will be dangerous for the driver, and it will be dangerous for other people on the road,” he said.

He said tread depth is key to a good tire because it helps with traction, adding that anything less than around five millimetres will lose its efficiency.

Louro said that affordability has hit his customers hard in recent years.

“It is now routine for us to sell tires in the $500 range, which is kind of crazy,” he said.

Picking up used tires is an option, but drivers need to be cautious when buying second hand.

“The problem is, is these tires, they don't talk, so they might look fine, but if you take measurements for their tread depth, then three different locations, maybe you would find that the wear isn't even,” said CAA-Quebec spokesperson Jesse Caron.