Belated 'Black Ice' Measures... Government to Double Road Freezing Management Zones

Expansion of Nationwide Ice-Prone Sections from 193 to 403
Increase in Brine Spraying Devices and Installation of 4,900 Signboards

On the afternoon of December 16 last year, debris from a multi-vehicle collision caused by black ice (road icing) remained at the accident site on the Sangju-Yeongcheon Expressway northbound lane toward Yeongcheon in Dalsan-ri, Sobo-myeon, Gunwi-gun, Gyeongbuk Province. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The government plans to strengthen patrols and expand safety facilities such as automatic brine spraying systems to prevent accidents caused by road icing during winter. Additionally, the vulnerable management sections will be doubled, and illuminated signboards will be installed to make icy sections easily recognizable.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 7th that it has established the "Winter Road Traffic Safety Enhancement Measures" in collaboration with related ministries including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Police Agency, and announced it at the Cabinet meeting.

First, the government decided to increase road patrols conducted between 11 PM and 7 AM, the vulnerable hours for icing, from 4 times to 6 times. Not only the ambient temperature but also the road surface temperature will be measured frequently to increase emergency snow removal operations, and personnel, snow removal warehouses, and equipment will be expanded to enable prompt snow removal work.

To prevent road slip accidents, 235 automatic brine spraying facilities will be expanded by 2023, and road surface grooving to promote smooth drainage will be installed on approximately 180 km sections this year.

The vulnerable sections will be expanded to about twice the current level by including permanently shaded and foggy areas, mountain passes, and bridges. Accordingly, the number of managed national expressways and general national roads will increase from 193 to 403 locations nationwide.

LED illuminated icy caution signboards will be installed to make vulnerable icy sections easily recognizable even at dawn, and they will be linked with navigation systems to provide continuous alerts for caution zones.

To enable rapid response when accidents occur, 500 smart closed-circuit (CC) TVs capable of real-time detection of sudden road situations such as icing accidents and wrong-way driving will be installed this year.

In particular, to strengthen the management of overloaded vehicles, which are a major cause of large-scale accidents, joint winter overloaded vehicle crackdowns will be conducted with related agencies such as the National Police Agency, and speed enforcement cameras will be preferentially installed in vulnerable icy management sections to encourage reduced speed driving.

The government designates the period from December to February every year as the winter safe driving promotion period and conducts safe driving campaigns at road rest areas, government offices, and other locations. It plans to raise public awareness of safe driving by utilizing various media networks including TV, radio, and YouTube.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyunmi said, "By steadily implementing the Winter Road Traffic Safety Enhancement Measures, we will move one step closer to achieving the government's core national goal of public safety," adding, "For accident prevention, not only strengthened government management but also drivers' compliance with safe driving rules is of utmost importance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.