system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why do tire treads lead to more traction when there is less surface area touching the road?
gpt
They don't. That's why car racing often uses "racing slicks".

The problem is that if you get even a little bit of something between the tire and the road (e.g. rain water) that there isn't anywhere for it to go, and it forms a film between the tire and the road that prevents the tire from getting any traction.