Every Year 2,000 Injured or Killed in Icy Road Accidents... "Reducing Speed and Maintaining Safe Distance Essential"

Icy road traffic accident scene. / Provided by Korea Road Traffic Authority

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been revealed that around 2,000 people die or get injured every year due to traffic accidents on icy roads.

According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority on the 30th, a total of 3,863 traffic accidents occurred over three years from 2016 to 2018 on roads with frost or ice on the surface, averaging 1,288 accidents per year.

During the same period, the total number of casualties from icy road traffic accidents was 7,102, including 105 deaths and 6,997 injuries. Additionally, the number of injuries from traffic accidents caused by road icing increased annually from 2,221 in 2016 to 2,374 in 2017, and 2,402 in 2018.

Regarding the time of day, while general traffic accidents mainly occurred between 4 PM and 8 PM (25%) when traffic volume is high, icy road accidents mostly happened between 6 AM and 10 AM (38%) when sunlight and temperatures are low.

By road type, the proportion of icy road traffic accidents was highest on city and provincial roads (33.1%) and special metropolitan city roads (25.2%), followed by national highways (16.2%), local roads (13.8%), county roads (5.8%), and expressways (2.0%).

On curved and downhill sections where the road surface is frozen, even normal driving methods become difficult due to reduced road friction, making braking and steering challenging and increasing the risk of rollover and off-road accidents. Special caution is required as speeding can lead to fatal accidents.

Yoon Jong-gi, Director of the Korea Road Traffic Authority, urged, “Drivers should reduce speed and maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead, especially during winter dawn hours on bridges, tunnel entrances and exits, and mountainous areas where road icing is likely to occur.”

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