All-season tires and the law: Where they count as winter tires — and where they don't

The short answer

The law does not recognize "all-season tires." No European regulation uses this category. What matters is the marking:

• If the tire bears the Alpine symbol (mountain with snowflake, officially 3PMSF), it is considered a winter tire wherever winter tires are required.
• If it only bears M+S, it is still valid in some countries — but not in others since 2024.
• If it bears neither, it is simply a summer tire with a different tread in winter.

"All-season" is a manufacturer's designation for a compromise design. It is not found in any law or inspection.

Why the Alpine symbol makes a difference

M+S stands for "Mud and Snow" and is a manufacturer's specification. No laboratory verifies it. The TCS: "So M+S says nothing about the winter suitability of the tire."[3]

The Alpine symbol stands for a passed test according to UNECE Regulation No. 117: The tire must achieve a minimum braking performance on snow. The TCS: "Only a tire with the snowflake symbol is a true winter tire."[3]

Most current all-season tires from reputable manufacturers bear the Alpine symbol. But not all — and when in doubt, the sidewall, not the product name, decides.

How to check: Look on the sidewall for a small mountain with three peaks and a snowflake inside. If it only says "M+S" or "M&S" without the mountain, the test is missing.

Where all-season tires suffice in winter

With Alpine symbol: throughout Europe, wherever winter tires are mandatory. That is the simple rule, and it is correct.

Without Alpine symbol, only with M+S:

France even explicitly names all-season tires as one of the permissible types of equipment — provided they bear 3PMSF.[6]

The trap is on the journey, not at the destination. An M+S all-season tire is perfectly fine in Austria. However, anyone driving from Zurich to Tyrol in January may pass through Germany depending on the route — and there it will no longer suffice since October 2024.

And in Switzerland?

In Switzerland, there is no winter tire obligation. The TCS: "In Switzerland, there is no legal obligation to equip a car with winter tires in winter."[7]

However, this does not settle the matter, but merely shifts it. Two general obligations apply:

• Art. 29 SVG: "Vehicles may only be operated in a roadworthy and compliant condition."[8]
• Art. 31 para. 1 SVG: "The driver must constantly control the vehicle in such a way that he can fulfill his duty of care."[8]

The TCS concludes from this: "Driving with summer tires in winter conditions, whether with a car, motorhome, or caravan, is not considered roadworthy and is therefore punishable."[9]

An all-season tire with the Alpine symbol is not a summer tire. Whether it is "roadworthy" in a specific case depends on the route — on a snowy mountain pass, it will reach its limits sooner than a winter tire. We do not provide legal advice on this; if in doubt, ask your insurance company.

And regardless of the equipment, the following applies: Where the sign "Snow chains mandatory" (2.48) is displayed, neither winter nor all-season tires will help. Then chains must be fitted; a violation costs 100 francs.[10]

The technical part: What you're getting into

The legal situation is one thing, physics another. An all-season tire is a visible compromise — you can see it in the tread: sipes like a winter tire, but coarser; a central rib like a summer tire.

The rubber compound cannot do both. A winter compound remains flexible in the cold and becomes soft in the heat; a summer compound is the opposite. The all-season tire lies in between and is therefore worse at both ends than the respective specialist.

The magnitude, measured by the TCS on a wet road at 7 °C asphalt temperature, braking from 80 km/h, test dimension 205/55 R16:[11]

Remarkably: Under these exact conditions, the all-season tire was the best of the three. This is its weather — cool and wet.

On snow, it looks different. There, the TCS measures a 27-meter difference between the best summer and best winter tire when braking from 50 km/h at minus 3 °C — "about eight car lengths."[12] The all-season tire is in between, closer to the winter tire, but not at its level.

Please read these numbers for what they are: TCS measurements from a specific test, in one dimension, under stated conditions. These are not our measurements — we do not operate a test stand — and they do not apply to every model.

For whom all-season tires pay off

We sell all three seasons and have no interest in disparaging any of them. Nevertheless, a fairly clear picture emerges from the figures and the legal situation.

All-season tires are a good fit if:

• You live and drive in flat areas where snow falls only a few days a year;
• You drive little — below approximately 10,000 kilometers per year, two sets plus storage do not pay off well;
• You do not have space for a second set;
• You do not regularly drive to the mountains in winter.

All-season tires are a poor fit if:

• You drive over a pass to work or often to snowy areas;
• You drive a lot on highways — the softer compound wears out faster in summer there;
• Your car has a lot of power and is heavy.

And something else that is often missing from the calculation: Two sets together last longer than one. If you change summer and winter tires, you only drive each set for half a year — in terms of kilometers, the extra cost is smaller than the double purchase price suggests. There are also changeover and storage costs, which can eat up the advantage. Everyone has to calculate this for themselves; the numbers vary greatly.

What's in our assortment

Currently, 5,164 out of 26,834 active tires are listed as all-season tires — about 19 percent. In 205/55 R16, 126 all-season variants are available.

For classification in the Swiss shop, the Alpine symbol is decisive: an M+S marking alone is not treated as equivalent proof of snow suitability. For the specific item, additionally check the dimension, load, and speed index.

Further reading: Winter tire obligation in Europe · The EU tire label · All-season tires in the assortment