Studded Tires for Winter Driving: Yay or Nay?

My wife is a teacher and drives the 22 miles from Belgrade to Three Forks each day to get to school. As you probably know, it can be really dangerous on some days with snow and ice covering I-90. We thought this year we should maybe put on some studded tires to be on the safe side.

I brought up the question on The Real Ask Bozeman Facebook page and here are some of the responses that I received:

Not sure the type of vehicle but I’m not a fan of the expense nor the swapping of tires each season. We pull sled trailers in the winter with a pickup and generally get along fine with an all terrain tire. - Rowdy

Slid thru Intersections when my light was red without them. Never happened again with the studded tires. Traction is traction. - Peggy

When the driving surface isn't covered in ice, studded tires can damage the road. ... Although studded tires are capable of handling icy driving situations, improvements in the rubber compounds of modern studless winter tires have made them more capable of handling some of winter's most extreme driving situations. - Julz

I've had a snowplow business in Bozeman for 20 years. I also drive over the Bozeman pass several times a week. Studded tires are definitely worth it for icy condition. Especially pulling a trailer. - Scott

. . . they cause a lot of road damage. Asphalt is a byproduct of gasoline production. We have figured out how to recycle it with lyme but it degrades its quality each time. The further degraded Asphalt then falls apart quicker each time.. Asphalt is a limited resource like gasoline will be. The American government/people also resists spending money on maintaining roads when they do degrade which results in Asphalt degrading and putting chemicals in our water system. Use of stud tires does cost everyone money through taxes that are used to maintain the roads. - Erica

What's your advice? Studded tire or all-weather tires for winter? Email me at Dave@XLcountry.com. And thank you for your response.