Drivers who hit the icy roads during winter may turn to studded tires as one way to stay safe, but transportation officials flinch at the damage it does to Oregons highways.

The state spends more than $11 million per year fixing roads and bridges damaged by studded tires, according to estimates by the Oregon Department of Transportation based off of a 2000 study.

For more than a decade, lawmakers and residents have looked for ways to offset the cost of repairing these roads, including imposing new fees.

An initiative that would ban the use of studded tires failed to make the November 2012 ballot, but efforts to minimize the damage the tires do to roads are back in the Legislature.

At least two bills would impose a fee on tire dealers when they sell a studded tire or install studs in a tire. One bill, introduced by Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, leaves the fee amount blank while the other, introduced by Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, establishes a $10 fee.

Another bill also introduced by Greenlick would require drivers to obtain a permit to use studded tires.

ODOT would determine the cost of the permit by dividing the amount of damage to the highways caused by studded tires and retractable studded tires by the estimated number of motor vehicles registered in the state that used those tires in the previous calendar year.

For tire dealers, studded tires would be a tougher sell.

Dick Nordness, executive director of the Northwest Tire Dealers Association in Washington, called studded tires a safety item and noted that extra fees arent imposed on safety belts, so why should they be on tires?

When the roads are icy, the studded tire is the best traction tire, Nordness said.

A spokeswoman for Les Schwab Tire Centers said in a statement that the company currently is analyzing the legislation, but noted that customers are in the best position to decide what they need for tire performance and safe driving.

About 19 percent of vehicles in Oregon use studded tires, according to estimates by ODOT based on surveys conducted in the mid-1990s, which is the most updated data available.

Since then, Nordness said, the use of studded tires has been declining as more options such as studless winter tires with specialized rubber compounds become available to consumers.

We feel theres a need for both of those products, he said.

In Oregon, drivers are allowed to use studded tires from Nov. 1 through March 31, but ODOT encourages drivers to consider alternatives such as chains or non-studded traction tires.

Studded tires contribute to pavement ruts in the roads and when the rain collects in those grooves, it can make roads more dangerous and slippery, according to ODOTs website.

Lawmakers who have proposed fees or permits for studded tires say the issue centers on fairness if studded tires users are damaging the roads, they should pitch in to repair the highways.

Fewer than a dozen states, including Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin, ban studded tires. Other states have seasonal restrictions.

Alaska imposes an additional $5 fee on the sale of tires with studs weighing more than 1.1 grams each, according to the states Department of Revenue.

Greenlick said he thinks technology eventually will render the debate surrounding studded tires obsolete. But in the meantime having used studded tires himself those who damage the roads should pay their fair share.

Given that people want to have studded tires, they should pay the marginal cost of the damage caused by studded tires, he said.

Similar bills have been proposed in the past but have failed to move out of committee. The House Transportation Committee once was chaired by Rep. Alan Brown, R-Newport, a Les Schwab Tires dealer who was not supportive of the idea of a tire tax or fee.

Revenue-raising bills currently require a three-fifths majority to pass.

With new committee leadership this session, its unclear whether attempts to raise money from the sale and use of studded tires will gain traction this year.

House bills 2278, 2397 and 2277 are in the House Transportation and Economic Development Committee with subsequent referral to the Ways and Means Committee.

Chairman of the House Transportation and Economic Development Committee Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, said he thinks theres a good chance the bills will get a public hearing, but he couldnt say for sure.

I would very much like to get to a place where were able to address the damage to roads that studded tires do, Read said. I like to do that in a way that gives people the confidence that they have the ability to use equipment that keeps them safe and I think we have work to do to find the right way to do that.