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I also find it interesting that an official State website would make those kind of comments on a private company. The product must either be very good or someone's driving a newer car than they did before
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Wayne, I noticed the same thing. I also noticed that the official Colorado DOT website is at
www.dot.state.co.us, not coloradodot.info. Smelling a rat, I emailed the webmaster at the "real" site and asked him for the scoop. He said two things.
First, coloradodot.info is legitimate. It is new, and yes, it really is part of the Colorado DOT site.
Second, and regarding your observation, Wayne, he wrote "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. After extensive testing by the manufacturer, and a yearlong pilot program in which the Colorado Department of Transportation, and the Colorado State Patrol monitored the effectiveness of this particular alternative traction device, CDOT did in fact approve the use of the AutoSock alternative traction device. We did post that information to the web in probably the same manner as you saw. However, upon reflection we decided to change the wording to "Textile traction device" in lieu of naming the proprietary product. Unfortunately during the revisions to the web page this particular revision seems to have been lost. I will have my staff affect the revision ASAP."
So now you know the rest of that story.
MudDog, apparently Colorado chain law requires commercial vehicles to
carry chains if they operate on certain sections of I-70. The law does not require passenger vehicles to carry chains. When the State Patrol thinks it is needed, it can institute mandatory chain-up, for commercial vehicles and passenger cars, but instances when actual chains are required are "extremely rare". More common is the requirement for all passenger vehicles to have adequate snow tires or tire chains. Adequate snow tires are defined as tires marked M/S (mud/snow) or studded snow tires with tread depth of 1/8th inch or greater. Four wheel drive engaged is considered an alternative to adequate snow tires or chains for passenger vehicles. Cables also fall in there somewhere. Sounds to me like a typical politician-written mush-mouth law. There are loopholes, so the AutoSock people may not have pushed so hard for approval.
Bill