SUV's -> carry chains, ix with chains in trunk (long)

[Matthew Shaw <shawm@xxxxxxxxx>]

On my first trip to Tahoe for the ski season in the
new ix (Thanksgiving weekend) it snowed Friday 
night, enough to have chain controls go up, (R2).
To make a long story shorter, at the chain control 
station, the Cal Trans guy who checks to be sure you 
have chains on, or a 4wd with M&S tires, asked to 
see a logo on the dash or something on the car that 
said AWD.  The ix has nothing like this on it and 
stupid me, I didn't think I would have a problem, I
didn't have the owners manual either.  I thought 
they could just look under the front and see the 
front diff.  He didn't seem convinced but let me go
through.  Parked on the other side of his truck was
a California Highway Patrol in a Bronco.  Now I ask
you, what fool would lie to a Cal Trans guy about 
having a AWD car to get through chain controls with 
a CHP sitting right there?  So what happens, you
guessed it, the CHP turns around and stops me 200
yards up Echo Summit pass.  He has never heard of a
AWD BMW and when I can not produce a owners manual
that can prove it, he asks me if I have chains.  I 
did not have any as I was driving a AWD car with new 
M&S tires.  I try to get him to take a look at the 
front of the car, offer to spin the front and rear 
wheels etc. he has no interest in any of this to let 
me prove that it is a AWD car, convinced that it is 
not.  So he asks for license and registration, and
I'm pretty sure he was going to write me up.  As I 
pull out the registration, I notice on the "proof of
insurance" that it says 4WD on it, so I point it 
out to him and he says well we could have avoided
all of this.  What can I say, I didn't think that I
had anything that said 4WD on it.  So he says, well
you still have to go back and get chains.  I now 
know that there is a state law VEHICLE CODE SECTION 
27460 that says you must have chains (in) the vehicle 
even though it is a 4WD with M&S tires on it.  The 
chain restriction signs do say carry chains when it's 
chains or 4WD with M&S tires only.  I talked to some 
of my local Tahoe friends and they said that the CHP 
uses it to hassle people.  If you think about it, if 
it is a law, why don't they check all 4WD vehicles to 
insure that they are carrying chains at the chain 
controls?  I was planning to get a set of chains 
anyway, just in case I ever need them, I just had not 
done it yet.  So all you people out there who have SUV's 
or big ass trucks, you could be cited for not having 
chains, however I don't think you would ever be asked 
unless you happen to have to talk to a CHP for any 
reason :(   And you new ix owners in California, well
what else can I say.....the car handles great and I
didn't have to put the chains on.

- -Matt 

P.S.  The CHP uses rolling radar on hwy 50 and they
      always sit at the bug station at the bottom of
      Echo Summit with the radar on, the speed limit
      turns to 40 mph there.  I've also picked up
      instant on radar twice, but it's rare. 

91 ix with chains in trunk and owners manual 
in glove box.

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