Buy Tires on Sale in Utah: But Not Until You’ve Read This Guide!

Utah's traffic can get pretty congested and gridlocked, especially during peak hours in built-up areas and during holiday weekends in and out of the cities. Not to mention dangerous when severe weather sets in. Peak traffic times in the cities are 6 a.m. - 9 a.m. and again from 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., so it's always best to avoid traveling during these times if you can.

Check out these listed websites to stay up to date on road conditions, accidents, and weather warnings and view live traffic cam feeds.

• UDOT Live Traffic Cams
• Visit Utah Road Conditions
• 511 Traffic and Transportation Hotline
• Current Conditions UDOT

Utah has strict requirements for winter season driving. Whether you are headed to the canyons or even driving on one of the many highways, the minimum requirement for passenger cars, light trucks, and other two-wheel-drive vehicles are 3PMSF tires. Meanwhile, M+S or M/S tires are required for four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles, RVs, buses, and semi-trailers. You can see the full details of law 920-6-3 here.

All-season tires are a good choice during the warmer months, whereas in the areas where the temperatures stay well above 45°F, summer tires are even better as they can really improve the handling capacity of your car. If you own a sports car or high-performance vehicle, then we recommend exploring the benefits of performance tires, to match your car's driving ability with the perfect set of rubber!

1. Seatbelts: 41-6a-1803 - In compliance with this primary law in Utah, all persons in a vehicle are required to wear seatbelts. Under 8’s must be in an approved safety child/baby seat.
2. Texting is illegal: 41-6a-1716 - You cannot text and drive, the fine, if you are caught doing so, is a minimum of a class C misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $100. Furthermore, if you are responsible for a crash or causing harm to someone else, you’ll be facing much more severe charges and jail time.
3. Handsfree: 41-8-4, 41-6a-1716 - If you are under 18 years of age, you are prohibited from using handsfree in any form. However, for those 18 and older it’s ok to use hands-free for taking calls or viewing maps as long as you are not physically manipulating the phone.
4. Driving by minors: 41-8-1 - You cannot operate a vehicle if you are under 16 years old, with the exception of off-highway vehicles and off-highway implements of husbandry.
5. Studded winter tires: 41-6a-1636 - Legally, you can have tungsten carbide studs on your winter tires with a maximum projection of 0.50 inches, as long as they are only used during the winter periods of October 15 through to March 31 of the following year, and are not used on a vehicle over 9,000 pounds gross weight.
6. Night time driving: 41-8-2 - If you are 17 years or younger you cannot drive between 12.00 a.m and 5.00 a.m.

Utah State Legislature 41-6a-1401 prohibits stopping, standing, or parking vehicles:

1. On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street, on a sidewalk, within an intersection, or in a crosswalk.
2. Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within 30 feet of points on the curb immediately opposite the ends of a safety zone
3. On any bridge or other elevated structure, on a highway, or within a highway tunnel.
4. On any railroad tracks, on any controlled-access highway, in front of a public or private driveway, within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station, within 50 feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing, or at any place where traffic-control devices prohibit parking.
5. Within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, within 20 feet of a crosswalk.
6. Within 30 feet upon the approach to any flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic-control signal located at the side of a roadway.

Utah State Legislature 41-6a-1402 cites angled parking, and parking on certain highways is prohibited.

The percent of visible light allowed through your tinted windows is called VLT: Visible Light Transmission. The guidelines for the percentage of light allowed through your film and glass in Utah are detailed below.

Utah’s window tinting law 41-6a-S1635 came into effect in 2005 and consists of the following rules.

The windshield can have a non-reflective tint above the manufacturer's AS-1 line or top 5 inches. The front side windows must allow more than 35% of light in.

Window tints can reflect incoming light and reduce glare and heat. Utah’s window tint law permits that all 3 vehicle types must not have any level of metallic or mirrored appearance on any front side or back side windows.

Some other important window tinting rules to note:

• Side Mirrors: Dual side mirrors are required if any window behind the driver is tinted
• Restricted Colors: Utah doesn't restrict any tint colors
• Tint Variance: The law allows for a 5% variance in tinting levels
• Certificates: Film manufacturers are not required to certify the film they sell in this state
• Stickers: No sticker to identify legal tinting is required
• Fines: If your window tints don’t meet these requirements and you are pulled over by the police, you will receive a traffic infraction, and be fined accordingly
• Medical Exceptions: Utah tint law doesn't allow medical exemptions that would allow you to use special tint

Want to know more? Check out car tinting laws in Utah for more details. Or if you are interested in learning more about all aspects of tinting, including windows, headlight tints, car wraps, and even commercial tinting, you’ll find all of that and more here.

Utah's legislative laws on motorcycle helmets HB0158 are as follows. Everyone aged 21 and below must wear a helmet that complies with federal regulations. The protective headgear must have a continuous solid chin bar, the riders must wear protective glasses, goggles, or a transparent face shield. Unless the motorcycle or motor-driven cycle is equipped with a protective windshield.

Persons above 21 years of age are exempt from this law.

Utah has 7 main interstates and US-numbered highways traversing its natural, diverse landscape. Interconnecting main cities and towns and winding through the Rocky Mountains, with pine forests and mountain valleys to arid deserts and dunes in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau areas.

Interstate 84 - I-84 begins at Echo, Utah, and travels in a northwest direction through Ogden and Brigham City before passing Snowville on the state border with Idaho. It's 117 miles in the Utah stretch and covers Weber Canyon, Morgan County, and Summit County.

US Route 191 - This route is a 404-mile long north-to-south US numbered highway and services Vernal, Roosevelt, Duchesne, Price, Green River, Moab, Monticello, Blanding, and White Mesa on the eastern side of Utah. It connects Canada to Mexico and was built in 1981.

US Route 89 - Is the longest road in Utah stretching 502 miles, north to south through the center of Utah. It mirrors the I-15 in the south, and branches off at Provo connecting Ephraim, Salina, Richfield, Panguitch, Hatch, Glendale, and Kanab then heads east towards Big Water before passing through the Arizona border.

US Route 40 - US Route 40 starts from US Route 89 at Silver Creek Junction and services Fruitland and Strawberry with Duchesne, Verne, and through to the Colorado border and into the Uintah Basin near the dinosaur National Monument.

US Route 70 - Branching off of the I-15 near Cove Fort and running eastward towards Colorado, the I-70 links up central Utah with Grand Junction and Denver, Colorado. Passing through the towns of Richfield and Green River, this 232 mile long interstate travels through the countryside, with a 110 mile stretch between Salina and Green River with no services. So make sure you fill up and have extra gas tanks and plenty of water and food before making this trek through Utah’s vast landscape.

US Route 80 - The I-80 runs east to west across the entire north of Utah. Connecting San Francisco, California to Teaneck New Jersey, and traveling 197.5 miles helps connect the entire country east to west together! Starting at the Bonneville State Park at the Nevada border, and traveling east through the Great Salt Lake Desert, passing through Salt Lake City and on through Summit County, Wanship, and Echo, the I-80 finishes its Utah stretch at Wahsatch then through to Wyoming.

Utah is home to some of the most amazing landscapes and with 27 scenic byways, epitomizing the rust-red beauty of the Southwest, not to mention countless backways and unpaved trails, you are spoilt for choice on what to see, where to go, and what kind of experiences you want to have. From dinosaur relics, sweeping slide rock formations, beautiful forests and gorges, camping grounds, and tons of off road tracks, the opportunities for making memories here are endless.

Constructed in 1914, Utah’s Scenic Byway 12 is one of the most fascinating stretches of road you’ll ever have the pleasure of driving! Starting in the west at Panguitch and ending at Torrey, it’s an “All-American Road” that passes through two national parks, (Bryce Canyon National Park & Capitol Reef National Park) three state parks, (Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, and Anasazi State Park Museum) the Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument!

Not only can you enjoy these stunning views along 124 miles of Utah’s most scenic route, but there are also many scenic backways snaking off of it that allow you to explore very remote yet visually stunning places like Cottonwood Canyon, Hole-in-the-Rock, Burr Trail, and Hell's Backbone. You’ll want to make sure the weather conditions are ideal and that you are driving in a reliable, high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle with good, all terrain tires for exploring these backways as they are off the beaten track dirt roads, riverbeds, and rock trails.

The Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway is a journey back through time. Connecting in a loop, take a look back to the days of dinosaurs and abandoned towns from the railroad and oil mining eras. It's 512 miles in total, with 134 of these being across the border in western Colorado. Including the Dinosaur National Monument, Utah Field House of Natural History, The College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum State Park, and Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, plus Nine Mile Canyon, the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Colorado National Monument, and several national forests.

You can enjoy many dinosaur-related activities including active quarries, museums, and unpaved backcountry trails where you can view paleontologists actively uncovering the fossils embedded in stone, see dinosaur fossils and footprints, replicas, and tonnes of information about dinosaurs. You’ll also happen on intricate ancient Fremont rock art and other highly significant archaeological areas throughout this amazing route that winds through the stunning red rock of eastern Utah, while passing through the towns of Vernal, Roosevelt, Duchesne, Helper, Price, Green River, Moab, and ghost town Cisco.

Highway 150 is the road for the Mirror Lake Byway and starts at Kamas, heading east and high into the Uinta Mountains, through the picturesque Wasatch-Cache National Forest. There are plenty of campgrounds, picnic spots, lakes, and scenic viewpoints dotted along this route that parallels the Provo River. The highest point on the byway is Bald Mountain Pass at 10,687 feet, and you are spoiled with many activities including camping, fishing, cross-country skiing, hiking, riding ATVs, and snowmobiling along the trail, with the purchase of a recreation pass. Enjoy Bear River Ranger Station with its Historical Tie Hack Cabin, beautiful scenes of Mirror Lake and stunning mountain views with the route finishes over the state line in Evanston, Wyoming.

It’s a 94-mile paved byway starting at Vernal and traveling northwards up to the Wyoming state line. The byway covers Ashley National Forest, Steinaker State Park, and Red Fleet State Park before reaching the Uinta Mountains. The route climbs and switches back throughout this section, before plateauing at 8,400 ft in elevation before reaching the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. It's here the route splits in two with the northeast route, Highway 191, forks right, drops down to Flaming Gorge Reservoir, crosses the dam at Dutch John, and then continues north into Wyoming. Whereas Highway 44 veers left and hugs the ridgeline above Flaming Gorge. It provides access to Red Canyon Visitor Center and overlooks Sheep Creek, the town of Manila, and then Lucerne Valley Marina. The geography of this area is stunning, plus it’s also known as the “Drive Through The Ages", as you pass layers of strata from various periods of the earth's fascinating history.

This windy, narrow route takes you high up into the Uinta Mountains as it forks from Highway 44 a few miles from the start and ending point of Manila. Traveling east of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir you’ll follow the Uinta Fault line that is on display for 100 miles and affords travelers the magnificent sights of the twisted rock layers, towering monoliths, sheer canyon walls, cliffs, fractured rock piles, and unique natural features. This landscape is visually dramatic and not like anywhere else you’ve seen plus you might even catch a glimpse of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep!

Off-roading enthusiasts can really enjoy the scenic and remote routes and landscape that is Utah’s unique backcountry. Most of these are unpaved, unpatrolled dirt tracks that are easily damaged in storms. Therefore travelers are encouraged to check weather and road conditions ahead of time, as even a few hours of rain can completely change the safety of these tracks, and being so remote help is many hours away. It is advised to traverse these trails in high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles, with all-terrain, rugged terrain, or mud tires in the warmer seasons, in the winter to have M+S as a minimum plus snow chains at the ready, to carry plenty of extra food and water, and have an emergency kit packed in the car. Check out BLM Office Utah for more information.

Passing by Kodachrome Basin State Park and with numerous short hikes, backpacking excursions, and rural camping, the Cottonwood Canyon backway is a 47-mile trek that connects the All-American Road Scenic Byway 12 in the north with Highway 89 in the south. Highlights of this mostly unpaved trail include Grosvenor Arch in the north and the Cottonwood Narrows in the south.

Hole-in-the-Rock is a 62-mile one-way drive that follows the historic route of a pioneering expedition that searched for a route across the river, what we now know as Lake Powell. 11 miles in will bring you to Devil's Garden, and at 26 miles in you’ll see the turnoff for Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch. Although safe for 2 wheel drive vehicles in perfect weather conditions, the last few miles of this trailhead within the Glen Canyon area are best traveled by foot, bicycle, or a four-wheel drive vehicle.

The Burr Trail Scenic Backway is one of the most picturesque drives in Utah. It originated as a cattle trail blazed by stockman John Atlantic Burr in the mid-1800s and is now a 70-mile long track with a mix of paved and graded, gravel and dirt roads winding from Boulder to Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell. It's full of scenic viewpoints and family friends hiking tracks and passes through the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Here are some fascinating facts about unique Utah:

• Utah is full of dinosaur fossils! The world’s largest raptor lived in Utah. Known as the “Utahraptor,” it measured over 23 feet long.
• The annual Sundance film festival is set here each January in Park City.
• Utah makes up one of the Four Corners, the only place in the US where 4 states touch each other.
• Utahns prefer to use non-offensive curse words like “gosh darn”, “fetch”, and “heck”.
• Utah has the highest consumption of Jell-O in the United States. In fact, Jell-O is Utah’s state snack.
• There are more than 100 ghost towns situated in Utah.
• Utah is the 2nd driest state in the country, behind Nevada which is the first.
• Utah has the greatest snow on earth! And is renowned for its skiing! Owing to the state's dry climate, light powdery snow is plentiful, especially in the mountain regions.