Road Ice Accidents Concentrated Between 6 AM and 10 AM... Caution Needed When Driving on Bridges

Road Traffic Authority Analyzes Traffic Accidents Caused by Road Surface Freezing Over the Past 5 Years

Proportion of total and icy road traffic accidents by time period. [Data provided by Road Traffic Authority]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Traffic accidents occurring on icy road surfaces were found to be concentrated during the morning commute and school hours.

According to the Road Traffic Authority's analysis on the icy road surface traffic accidents over the past five years (2016?2020), a total of about 4,800 accidents occurred. Last year, 527 accidents were reported, resulting in 14 fatalities.

By time of day, 39.4% of icy road surface traffic accidents occurred between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. This is more than twice the proportion of all traffic accidents during the same time period (15.8%).

By road type, bridges were found to be particularly vulnerable to icy road surface traffic accidents. While bridges accounted for only 0.6% of all traffic accidents, icy road surface accidents on bridges rose significantly to 5.6%.

Composition ratio of freezing and total accident cases by road type over the past 5 years. [Data provided by Korea Road Traffic Authority]

The Authority urged drivers to prevent accidents by reducing speed and maintaining ample distance between vehicles, considering the lower temperatures on bridges compared to regular roads during winter.

Additionally, the Authority disclosed 68 locations identified as '2021 Icy Accident Hotspots' based on accident occurrence analysis over the past five years. Detailed information can be found on the Road Traffic Authority's Traffic Accident Analysis System or the Public Data Portal.

Choi Seok-hoon, Head of Big Data Integration at the Road Traffic Authority, emphasized, "When the road surface is frozen, avoid sudden braking or sharp steering maneuvers, and drive following the tracks left by the vehicle ahead to prevent slipping. Especially, the fatality rate of icy road surface traffic accidents is 1.7 times higher than that of all traffic accidents, so reducing speed and securing a safe distance are of utmost importance."

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