It's unfortunate that people have to be told that they have to put winter tires on their cars. Common sense died a horrible death a long time ago.
How do you figure they have to be told? You just decided this, maybe because you have common sense and others don't? And how did you come to the conclusion that common sense died anyways?
Nobody used snow tires "a long time ago" when according to you common sense was prevalent. You acknowledge we don't get much snow on our roads but whine about cold roads and tire compounds. Is that the common sense part? Because all season tires are actually designed for sub-zero temperatures, don'tcha know? Sure, winter tires are better suited to cold temperatures, but they are also much worse for warm temperatures. There are tons of people who run winter tires all year, I know of a handful from work myself. Are you gonna propose then that we force everyone off their winter tires at a particular date? In that case, they should be forced to run performance tires since all-seasons are a compromise in the summer too, right?
I used to run high performance tires in the summer, and then I'd switch to all season in the winter. Didn't stop me from running circles around other drivers on snow + ice even in my RWD car. Now I run all seasons... wait for it... all seasons! I use my car for errands when I need to, I don't rely on it every day. Is it common sense for me to put winter tires on for the 1-2000 km I do in the winter even though I've avoided all wet/snowy conditions the past two winters?
What you call common sense is just arrogance. You think you know it all, it's so obvious to you, and poor old you, you have this tough burden of thinking that everyone needs it spelled out for them. I certainly don't, thank you.
As for everyone else, there is no clear benefit to forcing people to run winter tires as I explained above. But there certainly are clear drawbacks in increased costs of living and bureaucracy. Yet your common sense is to force it on people anyways. What irony.
