RoadSurf‐Pedestrian: a sidewalk condition model to predict risk for wintertime slipping injuries

Hippi, Marjo; Kangas, Markku; Ruuhela, Reija; Ruotsalainen, Johanna; Hartonen, Sari

doi:10.1002/met.1955

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…Similarly, tourists may encounter snow and ice for the first time in their life and be in general unfamiliar and unprepared to the Nordic winter environment [ 41 ]. The beginning of the winter season with the first snow falls and temperatures below 0 °C is often very visible when looking up slip statistics [ 30 ]. The general level of slip rate increases rapidly when it snows for the first time and the temperature drops below zero degrees.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Frozen surfaces can be slippery themselves but even a light snowfall can make surfaces more slippery still if the light and loose snow covers the hard and smooth ice layer. Pedestrians don’t necessarily notice the risk of slipperiness as the icy surface is covered by snow [ 30 ]. Also, lots of new snow may cause slipperiness for several days if the winter road maintenance is unable to reduce sidewalk slipperiness and remove the snow, as was noticed in case 28 November 2008.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pedestrians’ awareness about slipperiness can be increased by warning about the expected slippery conditions. In addition to Finland, special warning services to inform citizens about slippery sidewalk conditions and the high risk of slips have been developed in Japan and Canada [ 30 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. One method to improve safe walking is the use of anti-slip devices on a person’s ordinary shoes [ 47 , 48 , 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weather phenomena like freezing, melting, condensation, and precipitation in all forms can cause slipperiness. Slipperiness can also be formed by mechanical ways, when pedestrians or cars compress the snow or plough machines polish the snowy surface into a dense, almost ice-like surface [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has developed a numerical model, RoadSurf-Pedestrian, that predicts the state of slipperiness on the sidewalks due to weather [ 30 ]. FMI also issues warnings for the public in case when very slippery sidewalk conditions are forecasted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Weather on Pedestrians’ Slip Risk

Hippi

Kangas

2022

IJERPH

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Pedestrians’ slipping injuries are a very typical problem in the Nordic countries, causing varying degrees of injuries and in the worst case, long sick leaves. There is a clear seasonal variation in the number of slips. Sidewalk slipperiness and the risk of slips is a complex combination of weather, winter maintenance activities, number of walkers, and the grip between shoes and surface, as well as human behavioral and physical factors. In this study, the effect of weather on pedestrians’ slipping injuries is studied. Daily weather observations are compared to the slip statistics that have been collected from commuting accident statistics in cases where the way of commuting has been walking. A total of 16 cities from Finland for 14 winters are included in this study. The results reveal that snow on the ground increases the slip risk more than three times compared to no-snow situations. Near zero temperatures and precipitation are very typical on days when slip injuries occur more than usual. However, there are also days when high amounts of slips cannot be explained with the weather. The study also shows that there are significant differences as to the number and timing of slips between different parts of the country.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Weather on Pedestrians’ Slip Risk

Hippi

Kangas

2022

IJERPH

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Climate change impacts on future driving and walking conditions in Finland, Norway and Sweden

et al. 2022

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Road weather is a major concern for the public safety and health, industries and transport sectors. Half of the yearly 27,000 road and 50,000 pedestrian injuries in Finland, Norway and Sweden can be traced back to slippery road and walkway conditions. We simulated the climate change impacts on future roads and walkways for mid- and end-century in Finland, Norway and Sweden with the road weather model RoadSurf, driven by the regional climate model HCLIM38 with boundary data from two global climate models following the RCP8.5 scenario.Our simulations for mid-century suggest strong road surface temperature increases, especially in southern Finland (+ 5.1 °C) and Sweden (+ 7.1 °C). Snowy and icy road surface conditions decreased by 23 percentage points, causing 18.5 percentage points less difficult driving conditions during the cold season. Zero-degree-crossing days mostly decreased in autumn and spring by up to 7 days and increased in winter by up to 5 days. Sidewalks mostly showed a decrease in slipperiness, but a five percentage point increase of water above ice layers on the sidewalks in winter, suggesting the slip-season might become shorter, but more slippery.Our results are upper extreme estimates but can serve as a reference to help local decision-makers plan mitigation and adaptation measures ahead of time.

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