Dusting of first snow results in slippery roads and accidents

On the season`s first snowfall in central region of Korea on Friday, 23 vehicles were involved in an accident on the highway. In a two-lane section leading to Seoul-Incheon highway at Pangyo from the Seoul Outer Ring Expressway, 23 vehicles collided in a multi-car accident at around 5:40 a.m. on Friday, according to a fire station in Incheon and Korea Expressway Corporation.

The state expressway agency said one vehicle slipped and ran into the road wall on the icy road due to snow. As snow arrived very early Friday morning, drivers who followed one another without adequate space lost control of their vehicles on the icy road and steered sharply sideways. Some of the cars hit the side walls of the lamp section in the two-lane road. Casualties were light with two people with minor injuries but the entire road was severely congested with the tangled vehicles. The road cleared up at 8 a.m., more than two hours after the collision.

Experts said icy roads need twice the braking distance of dry roads. According to Korea Expressway Corporation`s simulation tests, a sudden brake after cruising at 100 kmph stopped the vehicle completely after 78 meters, while on icy roads, it took 160 meters. A sudden stop while running 60 kmph it took 35 meters for the car to completely stop, but the distance surged to 64 meters on icy roads.

On a highway the distance among vehicles should be generally maintained at 100 meters to fit the speed limit of 100 kmph and on ordinary roads, experts say that the distance among vehicles should be maintained at a meter distance of 15 deducted from the driving speed. Dr. Jang Taek-yeong at Samsung Traffic Research Institute said, "On winter days, drivers should slow down by 20 percent from the speed limit. Once the correct inter-vehicle distance for the speed is maintained, it is easy to prevent multiple car accidents on the highway."