Yeah, even in smaller towns there are a ton of people with Civics, Neons, and Saturns, and they have to get through all winter. You do need to carry a shovel in case the plow leaves a berm across your street or driveway apron though.

The remaining ones not destroyed by road salt rust.

My Civic does just fine in Michigan. The only time I got stuck was the one winter I didn't have snow tires.

I have a Saturn in WI and have gotten it stuck a few times when I lived on a street that didn't get plowed first/often. The plow would come through the intersection across my street and leave a wall of snow higher than my ground clearance. I definitely got stuck a lot more when I drove my old rear-wheel-drive Mercury with an open differential and similarly low clearance, both on that street and in the parking lot at work before the plow came through.

My point was that not everybody here drives a truck or SUV, so the roads do need to be cleared to a point.

Too late to edit, but now I understand why people on here use footnote numbers instead of asterisks. oops

SUVs actually often have worse traction because the larger tyres are more expensive so some buyers go with a single set of all-weather instead of a proper M+S tyre in winter.

I don't think I've ever met a non-enthusiast who had both summer and winter tires. Is that actually a thing? Maybe in the mountains? Here in Iowa, everything is pretty straight and flat, so you just need to leave more room to slow down.

I have winter tires for my Prius in Indiana. Makes a world of difference and I only use the snow tires for a month or two so they last a long time. The recommended tires on a Prius are these low-rolling resistance tires that are downright treacherous on snow.

Our Civic had some premium Michelin tires on it when we got it. They had zero traction in the winter. Slid through far too many intersections and was all too happy to see them go.

I have winter tires on because it’s the law 4-5 months per year but this isn’t the US. People in the north here use studded tires. Driving with summer tires in winter is extremely slippery, tires makes much more difference than road prep!