Each vehicle operated upon any highway or bridge shall be equipped with tires of rubber, or other elastic substance, approved by the commissioner, and the wheels shall be so constructed that no metal part of the wheel or tire may be in contact with the surface of the road at any time when such vehicle is in motion upon the highway, except such vehicle may be equipped with tires incorporating a metal nonskid device during the period from November fifteenth to April thirtieth, inclusive. Nothing in this section shall apply to authorized emergency vehicles, to road-making machinery in use in the repair or construction of highways or to a tractor used in agricultural pursuits when necessarily traversing a highway or bridge for the purpose of access to agricultural lands, or to a truck, tractor, trailer or semitrailer for which a permit has been granted by the Commissioner of Transportation. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall, for a first offense, be deemed to have committed an infraction, and for a subsequent offense shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.