Black Ice Traffic Accidents Result in 200 Deaths Over 5 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] In the past five years, the number of fatalities caused by traffic accidents due to road icing in winter, commonly known as black ice, has reached 200.

On the 27th, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's Samsung Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute analyzed winter icy road accidents reported to the police and weather observation data from January 2014 to December 2018. The analysis showed 199 fatalities, with the number of deaths per 100 accidents being 1.6 times higher than the average for all traffic accidents.

Over five years, the number of traffic accidents caused by road icing or frost was 6,548, averaging 1,310 cases annually. The number of fatalities was 199, averaging 40 per year.

The number of deaths per 100 accidents was 3.0, which is 1.6 times higher than the overall traffic accident average of 1.9, indicating a higher incidence of severe accidents.

Additionally, for each day in winter when the minimum temperature was below 0℃ and the daily temperature range exceeded 9℃, the average number of accidents increased by about 59 per day. The fatality rate was also 1.6 times higher than the average for all traffic accidents.

By region, the rate of icing-related traffic accidents was highest in Gangwon (3.9%), Chungnam (3.8%), and Chungbuk (3.7%). The fatality rate (the ratio of deaths in icing accidents to total accidents) was highest in Chungbuk (7.0%) and Gangwon (5.3%), indicating higher rates in the central inland areas.

To prevent icy road accidents in winter, the research institute pointed out the urgent need for tailored measures such as automatic brine spraying systems, road surface heating wires, and variable speed limit signs, especially on roads with high accident risk.

Since black ice forms when road moisture freezes rapidly as temperatures drop sharply, customized management considering weather changes along with surrounding environments (such as coastal areas and reservoirs) and road environments (such as bridges, elevated roads, and tunnel entrances) is necessary.

Seong-ryeol Lee, senior researcher at Samsung Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute, emphasized, "Black ice poses a high risk of leading to major accidents depending on road conditions, regional and locational factors," and added, "Active snow removal activities, expansion of automatic brine spraying systems and road heating wires installation, installation of variable speed limit signs, and section speed enforcement are necessary in high-risk areas."

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