We get snow and ice on the roads here almost every year, my wife's 1996 Camry and my 2006 Ram 35004x4 have two sets of wheels and tires, one for winter (November 1st to April 1st usually, (depending on the state allowing them sooner or longer based on local conditions) and the other sets for the rest of the year
BTW DVW, her Camry has ended up with two different sizes and brand winter tires on it several years due to them wearing differently and me being cheap on buying used studded snow tires for the rear That car is only driven locally now in the winter due to having over 250,000 miles on it now

Again, the crap tires keep the vehicle from moving. If it doesn't move it can't have an accident.

Looking back at my history of accidents in slippery conditions, all 3 were caused by understeer.

Shouldn't you have put the "better traction" studded snow tires on the rear?

Not when it is front wheel drive.

There seems to me to be some "double talk" with the better tires on a front wheel drive (FWD) being installed on the rear. From what I read in some internet posts the danger of more worn tires on the rear of a FWD car is about loss of traction from side impact or side load causing a spin. How many times does this happen as compared to the need for better braking or the potential for aquaplaning?



When changing the tires on a front-wheel drive car, the better and new tires should go to the back, not to the front. This is because worse tires in the rear are associated with the risk of slipping and dangerous side impacts. Worse front tires significantly increase the braking distance. With tires that vary greatly in terms of wear and tear, the risk of accidents increases2. The better tires mounted on the front axle provide shorter braking distances and greater aquaplaning protection.

I put four full on snow tires on dedicate winter wheels on every vehicle we drive during the winter months. I check the tread depths and tire rotation arrows and put the tires with the most tread depth on the primary drive axles. FWD vehicles get the more tread depth tire on the front, RWD vehicles get more tread depth tires on the rear. AWD vehicles get more tread depth tires on the primary drive axle in our case our AWD is 60 rear/ 40 front so again on the rear. For some dumb reason I always thought of the rear tire/wheels on a FWD vehicle as "trailer" wheels with brakes guess the "experts" say I've been wrong thinking this.

Yup...I used to own an '83 2.2 Charger FWD. Good tires at each corner. Driving home in January, at 1:30am on I-75 (major freeway) ...
I was only driving about 30-35mph going north (speed limit is 70)... snow storm. Without warning I hit black ice, and the car just spun out
did a 360, and I was facing SOUTH... two feet next to the retaining wall! Luckily..it was late and no traffic was behind me.
As I mentioned, all tires were good shape...so tires didn't make a bit of difference in that particular situation.