As I mentioned in the thread I linked to, you only need a half turn of the wheel to fit them, it's a very rare occasion that you are so stuck that is not possible.
If you are stuck the wheel will normally spin anyway and if it does that far enough to get the sock under the tread then Bob's your uncle.
I definitely wouldn't drive any distance with them on clear roads just because I'm a tight-wad, They work all right but yes they will wear faster. Last year I fitted them three times for a total of about one kilometre of driving. Given that I drive in and out of an estate that is never cleared of snow, often well before any other vehicles have been moving around, the total time spent fitting and removing the socks three times was less than it would take me to change wheels once let alone twice. (ie. On in the end of Autumn and off in the early Spring.)
With the large amount of Winter driving I do I am certainly considering Winter tyres in the future, the idea of a semi permanent solution to protect against unseen hazards like black ice is very appealing. Ultimately, of course, non of these solutions is a replacement for driving carefully in the prevailing conditions but in the short term these Autosocks have proved very practical for me.
