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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

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Title:

Road Safety Benefits of Liquid Anti-icing Strategies and Agents

Abstract:

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) in a partnership with the City of Kamloops British Columbia tested the effectiveness of a liquid anti-icer for the purpose of decreasing motor vehicle accidents caused by slush, snow or ice on the roadways. The study predicts that up to 54 percent of collisions on arterial roads and 77 percent of collisions on the highways were considered preventable by using a liquid anti-icer. It was then determined that the average claims savings to ICBC for these preventable accidents, based on previous claims costs, would be $334,000 per month or 1,336 million dollars per year (average cost of arterial collision $16,040; average cost of highway collision $20,506). A test was also conducted and preliminary results show that there were 3 percent to 28 percent fewer collisions during days when an anti-icing agent was applied. The results of this study show a very promising trend in reducing motor vehicle accidents through the use of a liquid anti-icier. However, these results can not be deemed "totally conclusive" as a result of different winter conditions, less reporting of accidents by local Police and differing application methods.

Source(s):

78th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (Canada). For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 1999

Author:

Gilfillan

Keywords:


Anti-icing/deicing chemicals
Benefit/cost
Benefits
Crashes
Incidents
Pavement condition
Snow
Ice/Frost
Winter maintenance

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