On Friday I took my car in to get winter tires put on. And it was about time. Driving on snow and ice covered roads was becoming rather hazardous. Driving with spiky tires is a little bit better.

Most manly men I know change their tires themselves, but lacking a handy wrench monkey, I go to a tire shop where a crew of handsome young guys does the deed for me. It may not be the cheapest tire shop, but they are quick, pleasant and easy on the eyes. And they don’t mind at all when I show up interrupting their lunch break. They even let me convince them to rotate the tires every season. – Here, it’s customary to mark the tires and put them in exactly the same place every time they’re changed, for example: left front, left rear, etc.

And just when you’re supposed to change the tires? This is what it says on the Vägverket website:

• Vinterdäck krävs 1 december – 31 mars om det är vinterväglag. (Winter tires are required from December 1 till March 31 if there are winter conditions on the road.)

The important word here is däck – tire.

• däck (def. däcket, pl. däck, pl. def. däcken) – ring av gummi som sitter på ett hjul t. ex. bildäck, cykeldäck.

And then of course we have different types of däck such as

• vinterdäck – tires for winter conditions
• sommardäck – tires for “summer” conditions
• or even dubbdäck – studded tires

Drive safely this winter!