ch people by surprise. Numerous studies have been conducted on this particular topic; in 1987, for example, Congress appropriated $10 million on snow and ice research ("A salt," 1987, A30). One important study was performed in 1990 by the Salt Institute. The investigation analyzed accident frequency just before and after winter road maintenance operations (Kuemmel, 1994, p. 52). The first part of the study examined two-lane highways four hours before and four hours after maintenance operations. De-icing was performed using either salt or salt and calcium chloride (CaCl2). The following phenomena were observed: (a) the rate for all traffic accidents before salt spreading was about eight times higher than after; (b) the rate for injury traffic accidents before was about nine times higher than after; (c) the rate for property damage traffic accidents before was about seven times higher than after; (d) the severity of traffic accidents was reduced by de-icing; (e) winter maintenance reduced traffic accident costs 88% and reduced the average cost of an accident 10%; and, finally, (f) the services paid for themselves within 25 minutes of salt spreading (Kuemmel, 1994, p. 52).
In addition, the Salt Institute also assessed multi-lane divided highways two hours before and two hours after de-icing. These observations included the following: (a) the rate for all traffic accidents before salt spreading was about 4.5 times higher than after; (b) the rate for injury traffic accidents was about seven times higher before than after; (c) the rate for property damage traffic accidents was about seven times higher before than after; (d) the severity of the accidents was reduced; (e) winter maintenance reduced traffic accidents by 85% and reduced the average cost of an accident 30%; and (f) multi-lane highway de-icing services generally pay for themselves within approximately 35 minutes of salt spreading (Kuemmel, 1994, p. 52).
It should...