In my own experience, all my cars since I began driving have been inflated to the max cold pressure rating of the tire. My father runs his the same as well.

I've never had a blow out which I would describe as a complete & sudden tire failure, but have picked up my share of nails & screws and one left a hole large enough to flatten it in less than 30 seconds.
I've never had to replace a tire prematurely for running them on max pressure as long as the other tire maintenance points are not ignored..like rotation, balancing and alignment.

The only downside in my experience in Max rated sidewall pressure is a harder ride. I've dropped my pressure to the suggested 32PSI a couple of times but it feels like I'm slogging through wet sand and I drop 7-10MPG.

Here in Atlanta we don't usually get very much wintery mix, but in the case of a rare ice or snow storm I'd likely drop it off of the Max setting a little for that paticular trip.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT