Have you ever complained that the province’s highway speed limits are set too low – or too high?

Now’s your chance to tell the B.C. government your thoughts, as the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure kicks off the two-month public consultation phase of the Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review.

Beginning Friday, the province will hold a series of open houses and seek online feedback to find out what safety issues plague drivers on longer stretches of highways between communities, mostly in rural parts of the province.

Transportation Minister Todd Stone said the review is meant to ensure appropriate limits are in place, because research suggests that it's not speed that kills, but variations in speed.

"This review isn't about increasing speed limits," he said.

The review will also probe whether winter tires should be mandatory throughout the province.

Winter tires are not mandatory provincewide in B.C., and Stone noted that 60 per cent of winter motorists drive where snow is uncommon.

But snow tires are mandatory on 80 sections of highways from Oct. 1 to April 30, and Stone said the government and the RCMP are reviewing what types of winter tires should be used, depending on regional conditions.

"We want to know if British Columbians agree if winter tires should be mandatory for those specific months," he said. "We also want to get a sense of British Columbians' winter driving habits.

"The RCMP and the Ministry of Transportation agree that tires with the mountain and snowflake symbol are the best choice for driving in severe winter conditions. However, some tires have an M and S symbol, meaning traction in mud and snow. Under the current legislation in British Columbia these M and S tires are also OK where winter tires are required."

He said the government will gather online submissions and input from eight public forums around the province until the end of January.

That feedback will be used to improve road safety and a safety strategy for implementation will be ready to next spring.

With files from The Canadian Press