Safe Driving in Company Vehicles in Winter

Why is winter driving safety an OHS matter?

Winter driving safety is a matter for every business that uses company vehicles. A sales representative's customer visit, a service technician's breakdown call, a site manager's journey between sites: all are part of the work, and time spent on the road is also working time. Art. 13 of Law No. 5510 also counts as occupational accidents events occurring during time spent away from the workplace on assignment without doing the main job, and while travelling to and from work in a vehicle provided by the employer. We explained which situations are covered in our article on situations counted as occupational accidents.

For this reason, winter travel should be a separate heading in the employer's risk assessment. Art. 4 of Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety obliges the employer to assess all work-related risks and take measures; roads, vehicles and weather conditions are among these risks.

In Bursa and the surrounding provinces, winter conditions can change over short distances. Precipitation that falls as rain on the plain can turn into snow and ice on the higher stretches towards İnegöl–Bozüyük or rising towards Bilecik and Kütahya. A service team leaving Nilüfer in the morning may face a completely different road in the afternoon.

Company vehicle winter tyres: legislation and company policy

The winter tyre rule is governed by the Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles for the Mandatory Use of Winter Tyres, based on Art. 65/A of Highway Traffic Law No. 2918. Article 5 of the Communiqué was amended on 4 October 2025: on intercity highways, winter tyres are now mandatory for vehicles used for passenger and goods transport every year between 15 November and 15 April of the following year. Provincial governorships may extend this period by one month before or after.

Vehicle	Which tyres under the Communiqué?	Minimum tread depth
Lorries, tractor units, tankers, buses	All tyres on the driven axle	4 mm
Light vans, minibuses, cars	All tyres	1.6 mm
A tyre that has to be changed on the road	The replacement tyre must also be a winter tyre	According to vehicle type

According to the Communiqué, inspections look for the M+S marking, the M+S marking together with the snowflake symbol, or the snowflake symbol alone on the tyre sidewall. A winter tyre is defined as a tyre designed to improve grip at temperatures below 7 °C.

Even if the cars of sales and service teams do not fall within the Communiqué's definition of transport, the employer needs to set its own rule. Our recommendation is: winter tyres on all company vehicles leaving the city during the winter period, including the spare; and tyre replacement as the tread depth approaches the minimum in the Communiqué. For leased fleet vehicles, write this requirement into the lease contract.

Snow chains: who must carry them, and how are they used?

Art. 65/A of Law No. 2918 requires lorries, tractor units and buses to carry, use and keep in usable condition snow chains on roads that cannot be travelled safely in snowy and icy conditions. The Communiqué also states that having chains in the vehicle does not remove the winter tyre obligation; chains complement winter tyres.

Chains are useless when someone tries to fit them for the first time at the side of a snowy road, without gloves and in the dark. At the start of the season, have each driver fit the chains to their own vehicle once; check that the chains are the right size for the vehicle and that no parts are missing.

Vehicle winter maintenance: pre-season checklist

In November, carry out a one-off check of the fleet and record it on each vehicle's card:

Are winter tyres fitted, and are tread depth and sidewall markings appropriate?
Are the spare tyre and tyre-changing kit in the vehicle?
Has the battery been tested? On cold mornings, a weak battery is the first part to cause trouble.
Are the antifreeze level and freezing point appropriate?
Is the screenwash frost-resistant, and have the wiper blades been renewed?
Are the headlights, fog lights and hazard lights working?
Have the braking system and the ABS warning light been checked?
Are the heating and demisting systems working?
Are the snow chains, ice scraper and in-vehicle emergency kit in place?

Journey planning and the decision to postpone

In winter, a significant proportion of accidents come from setting out on a day when people should not have travelled. Journey planning should therefore include these steps:

Is it necessary? If the meeting or visit can be done by phone or video call, the journey is not made.
Have the weather and road conditions been checked? Weather warnings and road condition information are checked before departure.
Are the route and timing suitable? The journey is planned so as to arrive in daylight; an alternative is identified for routes crossing high passes.
Is there a check-in arrangement? The driver informs a designated person on departure and arrival; if no message comes at the expected time, the driver is called.
Who decides to postpone? A driver's statement "I'm not setting out in these conditions" must be valid without waiting for a manager's approval and must not be questioned.

Unless the last item is announced as a written policy, it will not be applied. Art. 13 of Law No. 6331 gives a worker facing serious and imminent danger the right to refrain from work; but the way to stop a sales representative setting out on an icy road out of concern for targets is to make postponement a normal decision in advance.

Driving on icy roads: a short briefing for drivers

A short briefing before winter prevents the most common mistakes:

Adjust your speed to the road conditions, not the speed limit; increase your following distance several times over.
Avoid harsh braking, sudden steering and sudden acceleration. In a car with ABS, press the brake firmly and continuously; do not pump it.
Bridges, viaducts, shaded bends and tunnel exits can be icy even if the rest of the road looks dry.
Stay in a low gear on downhill stretches; leave a gap to the vehicle in front so that you do not have to stop on an uphill slope.
In fog and blizzards, use dipped headlights; if visibility approaches zero, stop in a safe place and wait.

This briefing can easily be added to induction and refresher training. For other seasonal risks, see our article on OHS in the winter months.

When stranded on the road, staying in the vehicle is often the safest option. However, when running the engine to keep warm, check that the exhaust pipe is not blocked by snow and keep a window slightly open; a blocked exhaust can cause carbon monoxide to build up inside the vehicle. For symptoms and precautions, see our article on heaters and carbon monoxide poisoning.

If an accident or breakdown happens on the road

The last part of the procedure is what to do when something goes wrong. A short instruction for the driver should follow this sequence:

Pull the vehicle off the road or onto the hard shoulder if possible, and switch on the hazard lights.
Put on the reflective vest before getting out; do not get out on the side facing traffic.
Place the warning triangle behind the vehicle at a distance where oncoming traffic can see you in time.
If anyone is injured, call 112; do not move an injured person unless there is a danger to life.
Report your location and situation to the designated person; while waiting, stand behind the barrier or in a safe area.

Under Art. 14/2 of Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety, an accident involving injury is notified to the Social Security Institution (SGK) within 3 working days after the accident. For this reason, information must flow from the field team to head office on the same day, and accidents and near misses must be recorded. Slides without injury and narrow escapes also matter; if they recur on the same route, the route or time is changed.

In its OHS specialist service, Bursa Sistemer includes teams using company vehicles in the risk assessment and prepares the winter procedure together with the business. For shipment and distribution vehicles, see our logistics and warehousing page, and you can plan pre-season check dates with the OHS calendar tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it mandatory to fit winter tyres to a company car?

The Communiqué covers vehicles used for passenger and goods transport on intercity highways. For company vehicles outside this definition, we recommend making winter tyres mandatory in the winter period as company policy, because the journeys are made for work.

Between which dates are winter tyres mandatory?

Following the amendment of 4 October 2025, during the five-month period between 15 November each year and 15 April of the following year. Provincial governorships may extend this period by one month before or after.

If there are snow chains, are winter tyres still needed?

Yes. The Communiqué states explicitly that having or using anti-skid chains in the vehicle does not remove the winter tyre obligation.

What happens if a worker postpones a journey in bad weather?

The fact that this decision will not be questioned should be guaranteed by a written policy. The right of a worker facing serious and imminent danger to refrain from work is set out in Art. 13 of Law No. 6331.