10986 snow chains

My understanding is that the obligatory snow chains, vary in size, ie car wheel measurement varies. So buying your own set may not work. They are also HEAVY to carry. We have experienced ordering snow chains when booking a hire car in Italy and then finding the hire car co reluctant to let us have them! Be prepared to stand your ground should this happen. Experience has proved that they are rented with the car and left in the boot, as the roads are usually drivable without chains. (Old adage if you pay for them then you won't need them).

I thought it was the law to have them, therefore the hire company should supply them FOC, .....I could be wrong

We had a substantial discussion about this topic last winter on the following thread:

[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/general-chat-about-italy/7985-first-snow-winter-6.html[/url]

I kept on asking whether snow socks were allowed in Italy instead of ordinary chains as they are accepted in several EU countries. We find the socks lighter, easier to fit and very convenient in general. Has anyone been able to find out about whether they are legal or not in Italy? They are a Norwegian invention and I think that they do know quite a lot about snow and ice.......

FOC??? Fiumicino Or Ciampino??? lol

[quote=jonstir;103417]I am travelling to Le Marche in January, flying into Ciampino and driving over via L'Aquila.
I presume a number of others regularly make this trip in winter.
Is it best to hire chains via the car hire company each time or is there another cheaper alternative?
I thought of buying a set and taking it / carrying it back each time but that would probably blow the Ryanair weight allowance on its own.

I have also seen references to snow belts but do not know if these are acceptable in Italy.

What do you advise?[/quote]

I would agree with Noble and suggest you arrange some via the car hire coy. The size of chain depends upon the wheel size so does vary from car to car so even within the car hire groups there are no guarantees that any you bought and took with you would be correct for the hire car you ended up with ie what is fine for say a fiesta would not fit a punto etc. They are heavy and would definitely eat into your luggage allowance, also as they could potentially be used as a weapon I doubt you would be able to take them on as hand luggage so would have to go into the hold.

It was possible to buy snow socks here in Italy last winter, I did see them on sale in a couple of places. I have never used them but they would be much lighter than the chains and I do not think they are so size specific ie one size fits several wheel sizes, but may be wrong on this point.

Although you may not need the chains, crossing over to Marche from Rome in Jan there is a high chance of meeting snow or ice and you will see lots of the obligatory chain signs on display as you drive over so best to have them, just in case!

Thanks to all.
Think I will hire chains through car rental co next trip but look out for snow socks going forward.

Can you clarify one thing as per Gala Placida's post - are snow socks now legally acceptable in Italy?

We've never had problems hiring snow chains when picking a car up at the airport. I did buy my own and took them over to the house but unfortunately one of them literally flew off whilst driving just missing a big black merc - the driver was not a happy chappy!

My biggest problem is actually fitting them on the tyres. Are you supposed to take the wheel off or jack it up?
Lorraine

[quote=Lorraine;103500] ....My biggest problem is actually fitting them on the tyres. Are you supposed to take the wheel off or jack it up?
Lorraine[/quote]

Try;-
[url=http://www.expertvillage.com/video/111434_fitting-tire-chains.htm]Fitting Tire Chains | Expert Village Videos[/url]

Hope it helps.

.

[quote=Lorraine;103500]My biggest problem is actually fitting them on the tyres. Are you supposed to take the wheel off or jack it up?
Lorraine[/quote]

No not at all - the wheel remains where it is . You do end up kneeling or crouching beside the car but with practice it does only take a few mins to put the chains on, however it is advisable to stop after a few mins once the chains have settled into place to retension them. If you have problems with them or unsure what to do, practice putting them on and taking them off a few times (in daylight and when dry) before you actually need them which will inevitably be at night on a cold wet road!

[quote=alan h;103501]Try;-
[url=http://www.expertvillage.com/video/111434_fitting-tire-chains.htm]Fitting Tire Chains | Expert Village Videos[/url]

Hope it helps.

.[/quote]

Thanks for the link Alan. Found this one and she makes it look so simple
[url=http://www.snowchains.co.uk/videos/weisstech.html]Weisstech Snowchains Fitting Video[/url]
Unfortunately it doesn't work like that for me :no:

Lorraine

Definitely hire them!

We got caught a couple of winters ago in Castellucio. We'd been out in the mountains on a clear day with no snow and were on our way back to Amandola and it started to snow very lightly, so we were trying to choose the way back that was likely to have clearer roads.

We took the road through the Piano Grande (as it didn't involve going over the mountain) and whack! We just hit a wall of snow and it was now snowing so hard we couldn't go back either. Snow chains were useless as it was now so deep and I was cursing not having any warm dry snow boots with me as I thought we'd have to abandon the car and walk. We were sat behind the ski instructor from Sassotetto who was also stuck. Very luckily, there was a snowplough slowly making it's way along the road and after about 1 hour it reached us and we followed it out of the plain. He told us it had taken him all week to clear the road and he was now going to start again!

I've also been caught out by going into a bar for about an hour and coming out to a 2 or 3 of inches snow. I needed snow chains then too as even though they are great at snowploughing round here, they tend to wait until it has stopped or calmed down before they go out.

I always have snow tyres and chains but putting chains on is a real pain.

If you are fly /driving the alternative is simply to hire a 4 by 4 which makes the use of snow chains redundant ( when asked,the hire car companies have said no need for snow chains with 4 wheel drive -and we have driven through snow up to some high resorts with no problems ) ,and has the benefit of a vehicle with high clearance and good visability.We use Auto Europe as you can specify 4 by 4 vehicles on their website -have checked and they have Nissan X Trails from Ciampino.

[quote=jonstir;103492]Can you clarify one thing as per Gala Placida's post - are snow socks now legally acceptable in Italy?[/quote]

I cannot answer the question as I am not in Italy. We did not get an answer last year; however, I found this ad in the Italian section of Google, all in Italian, announcing the 2008 series of the "Autosock calze da neve" with European "omologazione" and recommended by Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia.
See this:

[url=http://www.fastandfuriousstore.com/index1.html]Fast And Furious Store - Car Accessoires And Emergency Equipment[/url]

From our own experience, they are fantastic, very easy to fit, light, do not damage the tyres. Perfect! I would not struggle with chains :nah:

Well I have been trying very hard to find out something definitive on whether these snow socks are omologato in Italy. As of February this year, they certainly were not (there was a lot of detailed discussion on an Alfa owners site).

However, this does not mean that you cannot use them, simply that [B]if you were using them on a road where snow chains were obligatory you could be up for a fine.[/B]

I'll keep looking for something definitive. I think if you read Gala's link you will agree it does not say anything about Italian homologation. I found various similar Italian sites, which all fudge the issue by telling you about TUV (which I deduce is some Austrian authority), and explicitly name many countries where these socks are considered to be the same thing as chains - not one of them says Italy has okayed them!

You are right Charles, they talk about "European homologation" but they do not mention Italy or individual countries.... this is why I have those doubts. On the other side, searching through the Italian Google site, they are being sold in Italy...... I wish someone would be able to clarify.

We posed a similar query last year as we were planning to drive from England to Le Marche for Christmas. We received a lot of helpful replies so if you can find our thread it may help you. In the event, we bought our snow chains via the web but did not have to use them.
Annie.

The use of snow tyres is allowed between November 15 and March 15. In some regions it is obligatory to keep snow chains in the car during Winter. Chains should be carried and used as dictated by local signs (or road conditions).

I cant find anything further about the un/permitted use of Snowsox in Italy, so two organisations you could contact to find out about the il/legal use of Snowsox are:-

[url=http://www.stradeanas.it/]Anas S.p.A. - Home[/url]
[url=http://www.aci.it/]Automobile Club d'Italia: Home page[/url]

two things which appear to be conflicting with actual law here have been posted...

if the 4 X 4 you hire does not have snow chains with it or tyres clearly marked with a snow flake symbol... then it is treated by the police as any other vehicle and will be stopped from proceeding its journey much as any other car.... so that advice although very practical... and expensive needs the additional proviso that has already been given about chains...

the snow tyre limitation refers to studded tyres i would think... these are basically for people that live up the tops of mountains... and are quite rare...normal snow tyres which work because of their tread pattern and softness of their rubber can be on a vehicle at any time...although they do tend to wear out rapidly if used in hot or dry surfaces all the time...

these snow tyres marked with a symbol of a snow flake allow you to drive on any roads that require you to have snow chains aboard... in fact it seems to me in Italy that this will include pretty well all roads including motorways nowadays as there have been various incidents in the past where routes...major autostrada routes have been blocked totally by vehicles without chains and or snow tyres.. so they updated the rules to prevent access to motorways without the correct equipment...

snow socks...once again are on sale here and to my mind even if they do not comply with legal requirements they mean that you can use them where needed ...but would still to comply with law you would have to have chains in the car...

to be honest my preferred option is the snow tyre... the garage does all the work and basically it means that you do not have to get out of the car in the winter to fiddle around in the snow.... it also means that in areas where there is snow on the ground but its still drivable you pretty well feel in regards of vehicle control that you are driving on a dry road.. very little wheel spin and stopping distances almost as good as if you were driving on a normal wet surface...

this option obviously would not be available in the sense of the original post... hire cars... but anyone with their own vehicle here might well consider getting the two sets of tyres...

i also agree entirely that hire companies should give these things for free... without even having to ask... i presume they have to have a spare tyre and a high vis jacket... both required by law here... so to my mind they are hiring a vehicle illegally in Italy during the winter if the correct and legally required tyres or chains are not on the car... could well be worth those of you that hire often contacting your preferred company in the UK and making them aware of the fact... and seeing if you can persuade them to comply with Italian law...

[quote=adriatica;103562]

i also agree entirely that hire companies should give these things for free... without even having to ask... i presume they have to have a spare tyre and a high vis jacket... both required by law here...
..[/quote]

Hire cars are usually supplied with ONE high visibility jacket. I believe the law states that there must be a jacket for everyone in the car, so if you drive away from the airport with a passenger and no extra jacket you are technically breaking the law.

The hire company, I think, would say they only have a responsibility to their customer – the person hiring the car. The driver has the responsibility for his/her passengers.

I have ALWAYS found snow chains in the boot of any car I have ever hired in Italy - along with the high vis jacket and warning triangle - and on one ocassion, a very nice pair of sunglasses, two bottles of acqua minerale and a half eaten pizza - all free of charge!

I use AutoEurope.

If hiring a car make sure the snow chains actually fit it- we hired some 3 years ago & they didn't!

the rule for reflective high visibility jackets in italy require the car to carry one .... this has to be worn if you are outside the car inspecting or repairing it on a public road.,..so this would include the mounting of snow chains... its also compulsory to site a warning triangle behind the vehicle to warn following traffic of the hazard.... its not required by law to carry more than the one vest...although obviously anyone outside the vehicle would be well advised to wear one......

so no you are not breaking italian law with only one jacket... there you go.... conflicting advice as usual.... so you make your choice.... or check the law...presume the AA or RAC sites in the UK will be able to help you resolve it.. or if Italian the ACI