My husband got a call from a lady who said she was away for a few weeks came back her smoke detector was making a chirping sound. He was thinking the battery must have been bad. He just said that shouldn't be the problem though cause he hard-wired it. ThanksShe has a very high ceiling lives far away we won't charge her for this so we are trying to avoid any trips or atleast not multiply trips if he has to go there today.
The you have not done that much research. The Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 is the hand's down best winter tire on the market. Michelin won't even compare their tire to the current WS-60 Blizzak, they compare it to the old and long discontinued WS-50 version of the Blizzak. Bridgestone invented the modern studless ice and snow tire with the original Blizzak WS-15 nearly 2 decades ago and nobody has caught up with them since. The General Altimax Arctic winter tire is a studded winter tire, which means it needs to have hundreds of metal studs inserted into the tread to give good ice traction. Studs are not legal in most states. The Bridgestone and Michelin use more advanced technology to grip without studs. Don't get me wrong, the General's will be far better in any winter conditions than whatever tire you have on your car now, but the Michelin or Bridgestone will be significantly better still. Winter tires or not bad roads and still bad roads. Better to get there in one piece than in a pine box. Slow down. Better tires are not an excuse to drive faster. The faster you are going, the less time you have to react when things go wrong.
Dangerous is relative. It's true that, as I recall from US FARS data, a rider is about 4x as likely to be killed as a car occupant, but you are just as much at risk per mile on a bicycle in the city, while you are less likely to kill someone else (other than your passenger) than a car driver. You are probably more likely to be injured playing sports. Hard to control the bike ? Not with a bit of practice and a bike in good condition, except riding on ice with no spikes, or too fast on gravel (which holds for cars, too, of course). How much stuff can you hold ? Not recommended, at least not in the US. Places like Africa, riders carry 500 melons or entire pianos, but it surely makes it harder to control the bike. You can strap quite a lot on the seat behind you (200lbs or so securely fastened), and a bit less further back on a carrier rack or in a top box. You can also get waterproof side panniers. I've ridden a long way with skis, and once with a bicycle strapped firmly to the back (on quiet roads with a clearance light, which surprisingly didn't affect handling at all, though I'd rather not argue that with a cop) Motorcycle accidents come in 2 types - being hit by a car, and over-reaching your abilities at high speed. The second is entirely avoidable with experience and training, while the first is mitigated by being careful, e.g. not starting through green lights without checking for someone running the red. You ride thinking about safe exits in traffic if someone suddenly stops or pulls out ahead, rather than listening to the radio and trusting in an airbag. Collisions aren't always going to put you in hospital. I've fallen off quite a lot over the years, mostly off-road which doesn't really count, and hit a couple of cars, and walked away from everything (bent levers and broken lights on the bike). On the other hand I was knocked unconscious skiing (saved by my helmet!)
