New tire rules: Penalties will apply to these tires from October

It is not a complete ban, as many media outlets write. But: Anyone who drives with tires that only have the “M+S” symbol on them from October 1st has to pay close attention to the weather. The transition period for products with the “M+S” identifier that were produced before January 1, 2018 ends at the end of the month. At that time, these still met the so-called “situational winter tire requirement” and were therefore considered winter tires under traffic law.

But that changed with the stricter winter tire requirement, which came into force in June 2017. Since 2018, new winter tires have been subject to the requirement that the 3PMSF pictogram, i.e. the snowflake symbol, must also be found. The old Pellen were given a reprieve, which is now ending. “M+S” tires without a snowflake symbol that were produced after January 2018 were never considered winter tires anyway. You can hardly find these in stores anymore.

However, “M+S” tires are not generally prohibited – that can be an important detail. They are only no longer allowed to be driven from October onwards if there is “black ice, slippery snow, slush, ice or frost”. In dry weather there are no restrictions on use that would result in a penalty. But if you consider that the transition period applies to tires that are at least almost seven years old on the deadline, changing them simply for reasons of age wouldn’t be the worst idea. You can easily tell the age of the tires from the DOT number on the sidewall. The four-digit number indicates the production date in calendar week and year. So “2021” would not be the year, but the 20th calendar week of 2021.

For “M+S” winter tires there is a penalty of up to 100 euros and one point

If you are caught with old tires in winter weather from October onwards, it will be expensive and annoying. Anyone who drives with tires that are not adapted to the weather conditions pays 60 euros for an inspection and receives one point. If you obstruct someone, the fine increases to 80 euros. If there is danger it is 100.

The reason for the switch to the snowflake is quickly explained: no official testing was planned for the “M+S” symbol. So if a manufacturer believed that their tire, no matter how bad, was suitable for “mud” and “snow”, they could use the label.

The 3PMSF label, on the other hand, better known as the snowflake or “Alpine symbol”, may only be used if the tire has passed various tests and is therefore objectively suitable as a winter tire. This does not guarantee absolute safety either, as there are better and (significantly) worse products among tires with a winter approval. But at least the symbol guarantees a uniform minimum level of performance.

The weather decides when to change

By the way, the much-hyped change rule “from October to Easter” is not a law. You can drive with summer tires for as long as the weather permits. Only the “situational winter tire requirement”, i.e. the weather, dictates when the change must take place. October can therefore definitely be suitable for summer tires – and April can still be far too wintery.

By the way, there is no rule the other way around: using winter tires in summer is legal. The . explains why this is still a bad idea.