A method for deriving quantitative relationships between road slipperiness, traffic accident risk and winter road maintenance (WRM) activity is described. The method is also applied to data from an area in southern Sweden. If a specific type of road slipperiness represents a large accident risk despite high WRM activity it is important to increase public awareness during such periods. If the type of slipperiness represents a large accident risk but is accompanied by low WRM activity, it is also important to increase the WRM to reduce the accident risk. In the method, a road slipperiness classification, based on atmospheric processes, is used to classify the road conditions at the time an accident occurred. The road condition is classified either as non-slippery or as one out of 10 types of slipperiness. Data for the slipperiness classification are taken from the Swedish Road Weather Information System (RWIS). Results from this study show that the traffic accident risk was different for different types of road slipperiness. Highest accident risk was associated with road slipperiness due to rain or sleet on a frozen road surface. When accidents occurred in these situations, there was always high WRM activity. This indicates that, in order to reduce the accident rate during these situations, public awareness must be increased by providing information to drivers. The study also demonstrates the benefits of applying a standardized road slipperiness classification to all kinds of sources of road safety information, such as a RWIS, traffic accident reports and WRM reports. With a standardized and objective classification of the road conditions and digitally stored data, all evaluations are easily conducted. KEY WORDS: Road slipperiness · Traffic accidents · Winter road maintenanceResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher CLIMATE RESEARCH
Many northern countries use a road weather information system (RWIS) with a network of stations to
A method for classifying different types of slipperiness on roads in Sweden is described. Using this method it is possible to survey road conditions in different areas and between different years to optimise winter road maintenance. Winter road maintenance in Sweden is generally undertaken by the national road administration to improve winter‐time road conditions, thereby keeping up the traffic flow and decreasing the accident rate. As a number of different types of slipperiness may develop on roads in winter, each due to a specific set of meteorological variables, maintenance work can be a complicated task. With the proposed classification method it becomes easier for the winter maintenance personnel to analyse information on road conditions and survey the distribution of road slipperiness in a region. The classification is performed with an expert system using meteorological data from the Swedish Road Weather Information System. The road condition is classified as good or as one out of ten different types of slipperiness on roads. Road conditions during three different winter periods are analysed. The results show that variations in climate produce substantial differences in annual road condition characteristics. The output from the expert system classifying road slipperiness is compared with recorded winter road maintenance reports. Maintenance action took place on 49% of all occasions when road conditions were classified as slippery. Copyright © 2000 Royal Meteorological Society
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