Front wheel drive cars. I remember when they were a novelty. I had a 1966 Toronado, reputedly the first major front wheel drive. And the common wisdom then was to put the snow tires on the front. My guess is that is still the common wisdom. Actually, it is the common misconception.
All tire manufacturers agree that the tires with the best traction must be on the back. If not when your car begins to fishtail or hydroplane, you won’t be able to steer out of the skid and you will be in a spin.
We have a new web home, http://car-accident-rain.com Odd time of year to focus on rain accidents, but the dynamics are the same. Snow and rain make your car hydroplane. If you begin to skid, you will be able to control it if you have the better traction on the back. If you have the better traction the front, you are in serious trouble.
Any tire installer that put the new tires or the snow tires on the front, has committed a negligent act that could kill or seriously injure. Insist on the better tires in back.
If someone you know got hurt in a skidding accident, call us to see if it was the tire installers fault.
Hydroplaning Wreck In Illinois
With the coming of the rainy weather comes a big uptick in hydroplaning wrecks. The news today fortunately didn’t involve serious injury but it should be a gentle reminder of how dangerous the combination of mismatching your tires can be.
In Abingdon, Illinois a car slid on wet pavement and ended in a ditch. According to the Galesburg Register-Mail Newspaper the car had three occupants and luckily no one suffered major injuries. For more information, click here: http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1699610454/Wet-pavement-lands-car-in-ditch
The Galesburg Register cited “speeding” as being a potential factor that caused the car to hydroplane.
It is important to know that hydroplaning wrecks become more devastating and the risk of such accidents grow exponentially as speed increases. Far too many of these wrecks are ignored because the most injured party is thought to be at fault.
However, failing to properly investigate the tire installation fact in a hydroplaning wreck is a huge mistake. All manufacturers recommendations state that the new tires should go on the back. If new tires are installed on the front (the myth as to what should be done) the sellers or installers of such tires are clearly liable for all injuries.
In Abingdon, Illinois a car slid on wet pavement and ended in a ditch. According to the Galesburg Register-Mail Newspaper the car had three occupants and luckily no one suffered major injuries. For more information, click here: http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1699610454/Wet-pavement-lands-car-in-ditch
The Galesburg Register cited “speeding” as being a potential factor that caused the car to hydroplane.
It is important to know that hydroplaning wrecks become more devastating and the risk of such accidents grow exponentially as speed increases. Far too many of these wrecks are ignored because the most injured party is thought to be at fault.
However, failing to properly investigate the tire installation fact in a hydroplaning wreck is a huge mistake. All manufacturers recommendations state that the new tires should go on the back. If new tires are installed on the front (the myth as to what should be done) the sellers or installers of such tires are clearly liable for all injuries.
Red-Light Cameras Increase Rear-End Crashes
Date: 3/13/2009
CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Minutes after Neel Manglik illegally turned right on a red light in the Des Moines suburb of Clive, a video popped up on a computer at an office park outside Scottsdale, Ariz.
The $75 citation arrived in the mail weeks later, making Manglik one of the millions of Americans ticketed as part of a growing industry that is making handsome profits for companies that operate video cameras at busy intersections throughout the nation.
As more cities sign up and others invest their profits into more cameras, those companies expect increased revenue for years to come.
What’s less clear is whether the cameras improve safety. While studies show fewer T-bone crashes at lights with cameras and fewer drivers running red lights, the number of rear-end crashes increases.
Aaron Quinn, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association, said there are cheaper safety alternatives to red-light cameras, including lengthening yellow-light times.
“We say, the red-light camera wouldn’t have stopped anyone from getting hit,” Quinn said. “Once (a city) sees one city getting it miles away, and that first city makes a bunch of money, they want to do it, too. It’s like a virus.”
Albany, Ore., population 48,000, issued 1,119 traffic camera tickets for $77,200 in 2008. By comparison, in 2006 only 4,000 tickets were issued for all traffic infractions.
In St. Peters, Mo., a city of 55,000, red-light cameras resulted in 3,203 tickets issued from January 2007 to September 2008, and drew a total of $235,973. The city issued 14,836 traffic tickets in fiscal year 2006, but that jumped to 21,745 in 2008, the first full fiscal year with the cameras.
Clive Police Chief Robert Cox said there’s no doubt the cameras are a cheaper option than having an officer on the street.
“With the number of calls for service our city generates, we can’t devote that much time to red-light enforcement,” Cox said. “We were missing a lot of violations.”
But not all cities make money off of the tickets. Contracts between companies and cities can affect how much money the cities get.
In Clive, for instance, the red-light camera program generated $39,548.65 between July 2006 and March 2007, but all of that money went to the camera company because Clive didn’t ticket enough drivers in any single month to make money. Clive has since changed its contract and now gets a percentage of each ticket.
The largest red-light camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems of Scottsdale, operates red-light or speed cameras in 22 states, and added 79 cities last year. It signed a $32 million maintenance contract with Chicago last fall, and in just the last three weeks of last year, Redflex added five new cities.
Redflex saw net, after-tax profits of $10.6 million in fiscal year 2008, up from $7.3 million the year before.
That ticket in Clive shows why: More than half of the $75 fine went to Redflex.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Ashok Manglik, a physician who paid his wife’s ticket. “Why should it go to the camera company? At least 90 percent should go to the city.”
Some cities, such as Orlando and Atlanta, put all the money back into the program so they don’t profit from issuing tickets.
“It was a concern,” said Mike Rhodes, manager of the Orlando’s Code Enforcement Division. “Without casting aspersions on vendors, we didn’t want to be seen as having any incentive to issue these tickets.”
Plenty of people have been getting tickets in Orlando.
The city issued 785 “failure to obey a traffic signal” tickets — their equivalent of a red-light violation — between Sept. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007. But after the cameras were installed in September 2008, Orlando issued 8,250 tickets through its red-light camera program during that four-month period.
The Clive ticket demonstrates how the system works:
A Redflex camera spotted the violation by Manglik, then sent a video to an employee in Arizona who trained for a week to recognize violations. The employee checked municipal laws and approved the initial violation, and the video was then passed to another Redflex worker, who checked the vehicle against a motor-vehicle database to see if the car and tags match. A third employee approved the final evaluation and alerted an officer in Clive, who made the ticket official.
Clive police approve more than 90 percent of violations passed on by Redflex, excluding obvious mistakes such as ambulances and funeral processions. Redflex encourages cities to use signs and provides them to its customers.
“There’s very few rejected because it’s reviewed three or four times by Redflex,” Clive police Lt. Gary Walker said.
The camera companies, participating cities and nonprofit Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, a group funded by auto insurers, argue that the cameras save lives and ultimately cut costs. They estimate the cameras save about $14 billion annually, largely by reducing emergency-room trips, lowering insurance rates and cutting medical bills.
“I say if you sell fire extinguishers or smoke detectors or bulletproof vests that save police officers’ lives and you can make a buck off this, God bless you,” said Richard A. Retting, a former senior transportation engineer and lead researcher who left the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in September. “How communities work out the details of those finances is up to them.”
A 2005 study by the Federal Highway Safety Administration found that after installation of red-light cameras, right-angle or T-bone crashes dropped 28 percent, while rear-end crashes climbed 8 percent.
The researchers found that with property damage included, each site saw a $40,000 per year drop in damage.
Retting said there’s no debate that the cameras cut down on red-light running but that their effect on crash severity is less certain.
In Clive, one of the cameras was responsible for giving Richard Tarlton his first ticket in more than 60 years of driving. But the 76-year-old said that as long as the cameras help police become more efficient, he’s all for it.
“If the policemen use their time and do police work, that’s great,” Tarlton said. “If it’s giving them an extra doughnut and coffee break, then I’m not for it.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Minutes after Neel Manglik illegally turned right on a red light in the Des Moines suburb of Clive, a video popped up on a computer at an office park outside Scottsdale, Ariz.
The $75 citation arrived in the mail weeks later, making Manglik one of the millions of Americans ticketed as part of a growing industry that is making handsome profits for companies that operate video cameras at busy intersections throughout the nation.
As more cities sign up and others invest their profits into more cameras, those companies expect increased revenue for years to come.
What’s less clear is whether the cameras improve safety. While studies show fewer T-bone crashes at lights with cameras and fewer drivers running red lights, the number of rear-end crashes increases.
Aaron Quinn, spokesman for the Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association, said there are cheaper safety alternatives to red-light cameras, including lengthening yellow-light times.
“We say, the red-light camera wouldn’t have stopped anyone from getting hit,” Quinn said. “Once (a city) sees one city getting it miles away, and that first city makes a bunch of money, they want to do it, too. It’s like a virus.”
Albany, Ore., population 48,000, issued 1,119 traffic camera tickets for $77,200 in 2008. By comparison, in 2006 only 4,000 tickets were issued for all traffic infractions.
In St. Peters, Mo., a city of 55,000, red-light cameras resulted in 3,203 tickets issued from January 2007 to September 2008, and drew a total of $235,973. The city issued 14,836 traffic tickets in fiscal year 2006, but that jumped to 21,745 in 2008, the first full fiscal year with the cameras.
Clive Police Chief Robert Cox said there’s no doubt the cameras are a cheaper option than having an officer on the street.
“With the number of calls for service our city generates, we can’t devote that much time to red-light enforcement,” Cox said. “We were missing a lot of violations.”
But not all cities make money off of the tickets. Contracts between companies and cities can affect how much money the cities get.
In Clive, for instance, the red-light camera program generated $39,548.65 between July 2006 and March 2007, but all of that money went to the camera company because Clive didn’t ticket enough drivers in any single month to make money. Clive has since changed its contract and now gets a percentage of each ticket.
The largest red-light camera company, Redflex Traffic Systems of Scottsdale, operates red-light or speed cameras in 22 states, and added 79 cities last year. It signed a $32 million maintenance contract with Chicago last fall, and in just the last three weeks of last year, Redflex added five new cities.
Redflex saw net, after-tax profits of $10.6 million in fiscal year 2008, up from $7.3 million the year before.
That ticket in Clive shows why: More than half of the $75 fine went to Redflex.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Ashok Manglik, a physician who paid his wife’s ticket. “Why should it go to the camera company? At least 90 percent should go to the city.”
Some cities, such as Orlando and Atlanta, put all the money back into the program so they don’t profit from issuing tickets.
“It was a concern,” said Mike Rhodes, manager of the Orlando’s Code Enforcement Division. “Without casting aspersions on vendors, we didn’t want to be seen as having any incentive to issue these tickets.”
Plenty of people have been getting tickets in Orlando.
The city issued 785 “failure to obey a traffic signal” tickets — their equivalent of a red-light violation — between Sept. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007. But after the cameras were installed in September 2008, Orlando issued 8,250 tickets through its red-light camera program during that four-month period.
The Clive ticket demonstrates how the system works:
A Redflex camera spotted the violation by Manglik, then sent a video to an employee in Arizona who trained for a week to recognize violations. The employee checked municipal laws and approved the initial violation, and the video was then passed to another Redflex worker, who checked the vehicle against a motor-vehicle database to see if the car and tags match. A third employee approved the final evaluation and alerted an officer in Clive, who made the ticket official.
Clive police approve more than 90 percent of violations passed on by Redflex, excluding obvious mistakes such as ambulances and funeral processions. Redflex encourages cities to use signs and provides them to its customers.
“There’s very few rejected because it’s reviewed three or four times by Redflex,” Clive police Lt. Gary Walker said.
The camera companies, participating cities and nonprofit Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, a group funded by auto insurers, argue that the cameras save lives and ultimately cut costs. They estimate the cameras save about $14 billion annually, largely by reducing emergency-room trips, lowering insurance rates and cutting medical bills.
“I say if you sell fire extinguishers or smoke detectors or bulletproof vests that save police officers’ lives and you can make a buck off this, God bless you,” said Richard A. Retting, a former senior transportation engineer and lead researcher who left the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in September. “How communities work out the details of those finances is up to them.”
A 2005 study by the Federal Highway Safety Administration found that after installation of red-light cameras, right-angle or T-bone crashes dropped 28 percent, while rear-end crashes climbed 8 percent.
The researchers found that with property damage included, each site saw a $40,000 per year drop in damage.
Retting said there’s no debate that the cameras cut down on red-light running but that their effect on crash severity is less certain.
In Clive, one of the cameras was responsible for giving Richard Tarlton his first ticket in more than 60 years of driving. But the 76-year-old said that as long as the cameras help police become more efficient, he’s all for it.
“If the policemen use their time and do police work, that’s great,” Tarlton said. “If it’s giving them an extra doughnut and coffee break, then I’m not for it.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Bald Tires Flat Dangerous – US Government Info
Nine percent driving on bald tires – gas stations not helping
Too many American motorists face injury or death by driving around on unsafe, bald tires and the nation’s gas stations are not helping the situation, according to the Department of Transportation.
In response to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports showing that 9 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with at least one bald tire and that many gas stations fail to provide air pumps or accurate tire pressure gauges, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta urged motorists to closely monitor their tires.
“It is extremely important to motorists’ safety that they ensure their tires have ample tread and are properly inflated,” Secretary Mineta said. “Motorists who drive on tires that are bald or substantially under-inflated risk injuries or fatalities.”
To better protect motorists, the NHTSA is launching a new tire safety campaign called: “Tire Safety: Everything Rides on It.” Through ads, brochures and radio ads, the campaign will stress the importance of proper tire inflation and vehicle load limits. Motorists will also be advised to check their tires monthly, as well as prior to a long trip, to be sure they have adequate tread.
The NHTSA study found that 14 percent of gas stations are either not equipped with air pumps or have malfunctioning pumps. Also, less than half of all gas stations that offer air pumps provide tire pressure gauges. NHTSA points out, however, that motorists can purchase accurate tire pressure gauges for a nominal price.
In July 2001, NHTSA proposed new federal regulations that would require the installation of tire pressure monitoring and warning systems in new passenger cars and light trucks. Improper inflation is the main cause of premature tread loss and sudden tire failure, according to tire industry experts.
Tire tread provides the gripping action and traction preventing a vehicle from slipping and sliding. In general, tires are not safe and should be replaced when the tread is worn down to 1/16th of an inch. Tires have built-in treadwear indicators that let a motorist know when they should be replaced. These indicators are raised sections spaced intermittently in the bottom of the tread grooves. When they appear even with the outside of the tread, it’s time for new tires.
Tread condition can also be checked with a Lincoln penny. Just place the penny upside down within the tread. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, the tire needs to be replaced.
Key findings of the NHTSA study on tire tread:
* Nine percent of passenger cars are being driven on at least one “bald” tire. (For purposes of this survey, a tire was considered bald if it had 1/16th of an inch or less of tread depth.)
* Bald tires are between 1.5 and 1.8 times more likely to be under-inflated than are tires with deeper tread, depending on tire location.
Key findings of the NHTSA study on gas station air pumps:
* Over 90 percent of U.S. gas stations are equipped with air pumps. However, nearly 10 percent of these pumps are out-of-order.
* Fewer than half of the pump-equipped gas stations also provide a tire pressure gauge for customer use.
* Nearly 20 percent of the stations providing customers with tire pressure gauges on their air pumps use gauges that over-report the pressure present in a tire by at least 4 psi (pounds per square inch) or more. (This means that motorists who use such gauges in the belief that they are inflating their tires to the recommended pressure would, in fact, be under-inflating them by 4 psi or more.)
According to NHTSA, 27 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires.
Tire Safety Tips from NHTSA:
A radial tire can lose much of its air pressure and still appear to be fully inflated. Operating a vehicle with substantially under-inflated tires can result in a tire failure, such as instances of tire separation and blowouts, with the potential for a loss of control of the vehicle. Under-inflated tires also shorten tire life and increase fuel consumption.
Tires should be inflated according to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations. These can be found in the owner’s manual or on a placard, which is often located in the glove compartment or on the driver’s doorjamb. Motorists should not rely on visual tire inspections to determine whether a tire is properly inflated but should use a tire pressure gauge to do so.
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis conducted the two new studies. Statistics from the studies are contained in research notes on the agency’s Website at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/WhatsNew.html (Most documents require free Adobe Acrobat – .pdf file reader.).
Too many American motorists face injury or death by driving around on unsafe, bald tires and the nation’s gas stations are not helping the situation, according to the Department of Transportation.
In response to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports showing that 9 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with at least one bald tire and that many gas stations fail to provide air pumps or accurate tire pressure gauges, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta urged motorists to closely monitor their tires.
“It is extremely important to motorists’ safety that they ensure their tires have ample tread and are properly inflated,” Secretary Mineta said. “Motorists who drive on tires that are bald or substantially under-inflated risk injuries or fatalities.”
To better protect motorists, the NHTSA is launching a new tire safety campaign called: “Tire Safety: Everything Rides on It.” Through ads, brochures and radio ads, the campaign will stress the importance of proper tire inflation and vehicle load limits. Motorists will also be advised to check their tires monthly, as well as prior to a long trip, to be sure they have adequate tread.
The NHTSA study found that 14 percent of gas stations are either not equipped with air pumps or have malfunctioning pumps. Also, less than half of all gas stations that offer air pumps provide tire pressure gauges. NHTSA points out, however, that motorists can purchase accurate tire pressure gauges for a nominal price.
In July 2001, NHTSA proposed new federal regulations that would require the installation of tire pressure monitoring and warning systems in new passenger cars and light trucks. Improper inflation is the main cause of premature tread loss and sudden tire failure, according to tire industry experts.
Tire tread provides the gripping action and traction preventing a vehicle from slipping and sliding. In general, tires are not safe and should be replaced when the tread is worn down to 1/16th of an inch. Tires have built-in treadwear indicators that let a motorist know when they should be replaced. These indicators are raised sections spaced intermittently in the bottom of the tread grooves. When they appear even with the outside of the tread, it’s time for new tires.
Tread condition can also be checked with a Lincoln penny. Just place the penny upside down within the tread. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, the tire needs to be replaced.
Key findings of the NHTSA study on tire tread:
* Nine percent of passenger cars are being driven on at least one “bald” tire. (For purposes of this survey, a tire was considered bald if it had 1/16th of an inch or less of tread depth.)
* Bald tires are between 1.5 and 1.8 times more likely to be under-inflated than are tires with deeper tread, depending on tire location.
Key findings of the NHTSA study on gas station air pumps:
* Over 90 percent of U.S. gas stations are equipped with air pumps. However, nearly 10 percent of these pumps are out-of-order.
* Fewer than half of the pump-equipped gas stations also provide a tire pressure gauge for customer use.
* Nearly 20 percent of the stations providing customers with tire pressure gauges on their air pumps use gauges that over-report the pressure present in a tire by at least 4 psi (pounds per square inch) or more. (This means that motorists who use such gauges in the belief that they are inflating their tires to the recommended pressure would, in fact, be under-inflating them by 4 psi or more.)
According to NHTSA, 27 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires.
Tire Safety Tips from NHTSA:
A radial tire can lose much of its air pressure and still appear to be fully inflated. Operating a vehicle with substantially under-inflated tires can result in a tire failure, such as instances of tire separation and blowouts, with the potential for a loss of control of the vehicle. Under-inflated tires also shorten tire life and increase fuel consumption.
Tires should be inflated according to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations. These can be found in the owner’s manual or on a placard, which is often located in the glove compartment or on the driver’s doorjamb. Motorists should not rely on visual tire inspections to determine whether a tire is properly inflated but should use a tire pressure gauge to do so.
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis conducted the two new studies. Statistics from the studies are contained in research notes on the agency’s Website at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/WhatsNew.html (Most documents require free Adobe Acrobat – .pdf file reader.).
Salt shortage, high prices may mean slippery roads
Date: 9/22/2008 3:38 PM
By CHARLES WILSON
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ A shortage of road salt and skyrocketing salt prices could mean slippery roads this winter in communities across the nation as officials struggle to keep pavement clear of snow and ice without breaking their budgets.
Heavy snow last year heightened demand for salt, and now many towns can’t find enough of it. The shortage could force many cities to salt fewer roads, increasing the risk of accidents. Other communities are abandoning road salt for less expensive but also less effective sand or sand-salt blends.
“The driving public may be the ones who suffer on this,” said Robert Young, highway superintendent for northwestern Indiana’s LaPorte County, which has 20,000 tons of salt on hand — only half as much as needed to last a normal winter. Because of the shortage, three companies refused to bid on the county’s request for more.
Prices have also tripled from a year ago. The salt industry says the increased demand and higher fuel costs are to blame. But some officials insist salt prices have spiked more dramatically than fuel.
“That explanation doesn’t wash,” said Tom Barwin, city manager in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., one of several officials who have asked the Illinois attorney general to investigate the price increases. The office said it doesn’t have jurisdiction.
The United States used a near-record 20.3 million tons of road salt last year, largely because areas from the Northeast to the Midwest had heavier-than-average snowfall. Parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, for instance, got four to six times their typical amounts. Vermont, New Hampshire and other areas set records.
The harsh winter left salt storage barns virtually empty. Communities that needed additional salt late in the season had trouble finding it because supplier stockpiles had also been depleted, according to Dick Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, a trade group.
This year, many states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, requested bids early, Hanneman said, and salt orders grew significantly. Five states increased their orders by a total of 2 million tons over last year.
Suppliers quickly realized that at that pace, they would not have enough salt to bid on other contracts, he said.
The rising cost of gasoline and diesel compounded the situation, Hanneman said. Road salt — which, unlike table salt, is sold in large crystals — is transported by barge and truck from mines in Kansas, Louisiana and Texas. Some is shipped from as far away as Chile in South America.
State agencies that maintain interstate highways are supplied first, leaving smaller communities the hardest hit by the shortage, Hanneman said.
In Chesterton, Ind., about 135 miles northwest of Indianapolis, salt suppliers allotted the town only the 800 tons it uses in an average year — even though last year’s snowfall was double the normal amount.
“Between safety and politics, we’re going to have to salt the roads,” Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg said.
Last year, Chesterton paid Chicago-based Morton Salt $41.23 a ton for road salt. This year’s quote came in at $103.63.
Morton spokesman Joe Wojtonik said the company increased production at its mines after orders rose between 8 and 28 percent.
“We’re producing at the highest practical safe level we can,” he said.
Schnadenberg plans to conserve salt when winter begins. “I think all the communities are going to replan on how much they salt and where,” he said.
Other communities expect to use more sand or to adopt a cheaper sand-salt mixture. Neshannock Township in New Castle, Pa., plans to use a special pretreated salt mixture that isn’t as expensive as regular road salt.
Livingston County, Mich., is turning to a slurry made from sugar beet pulp mixed with salt brine that could trim 25 percent from the county’s $4 million snow-and-ice removal budget.
Still, this year’s salt shortage could pose risks for motorists, who may need to learn to drive on slippery roads or stay home.
Said Neshannock Township Supervisor John DiCola Jr.: “Some of the services we’ve been receiving … maybe we just aren’t going to be able to do that anymore.”
___
Associated Press Writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By CHARLES WILSON
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ A shortage of road salt and skyrocketing salt prices could mean slippery roads this winter in communities across the nation as officials struggle to keep pavement clear of snow and ice without breaking their budgets.
Heavy snow last year heightened demand for salt, and now many towns can’t find enough of it. The shortage could force many cities to salt fewer roads, increasing the risk of accidents. Other communities are abandoning road salt for less expensive but also less effective sand or sand-salt blends.
“The driving public may be the ones who suffer on this,” said Robert Young, highway superintendent for northwestern Indiana’s LaPorte County, which has 20,000 tons of salt on hand — only half as much as needed to last a normal winter. Because of the shortage, three companies refused to bid on the county’s request for more.
Prices have also tripled from a year ago. The salt industry says the increased demand and higher fuel costs are to blame. But some officials insist salt prices have spiked more dramatically than fuel.
“That explanation doesn’t wash,” said Tom Barwin, city manager in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., one of several officials who have asked the Illinois attorney general to investigate the price increases. The office said it doesn’t have jurisdiction.
The United States used a near-record 20.3 million tons of road salt last year, largely because areas from the Northeast to the Midwest had heavier-than-average snowfall. Parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, for instance, got four to six times their typical amounts. Vermont, New Hampshire and other areas set records.
The harsh winter left salt storage barns virtually empty. Communities that needed additional salt late in the season had trouble finding it because supplier stockpiles had also been depleted, according to Dick Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, a trade group.
This year, many states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, requested bids early, Hanneman said, and salt orders grew significantly. Five states increased their orders by a total of 2 million tons over last year.
Suppliers quickly realized that at that pace, they would not have enough salt to bid on other contracts, he said.
The rising cost of gasoline and diesel compounded the situation, Hanneman said. Road salt — which, unlike table salt, is sold in large crystals — is transported by barge and truck from mines in Kansas, Louisiana and Texas. Some is shipped from as far away as Chile in South America.
State agencies that maintain interstate highways are supplied first, leaving smaller communities the hardest hit by the shortage, Hanneman said.
In Chesterton, Ind., about 135 miles northwest of Indianapolis, salt suppliers allotted the town only the 800 tons it uses in an average year — even though last year’s snowfall was double the normal amount.
“Between safety and politics, we’re going to have to salt the roads,” Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg said.
Last year, Chesterton paid Chicago-based Morton Salt $41.23 a ton for road salt. This year’s quote came in at $103.63.
Morton spokesman Joe Wojtonik said the company increased production at its mines after orders rose between 8 and 28 percent.
“We’re producing at the highest practical safe level we can,” he said.
Schnadenberg plans to conserve salt when winter begins. “I think all the communities are going to replan on how much they salt and where,” he said.
Other communities expect to use more sand or to adopt a cheaper sand-salt mixture. Neshannock Township in New Castle, Pa., plans to use a special pretreated salt mixture that isn’t as expensive as regular road salt.
Livingston County, Mich., is turning to a slurry made from sugar beet pulp mixed with salt brine that could trim 25 percent from the county’s $4 million snow-and-ice removal budget.
Still, this year’s salt shortage could pose risks for motorists, who may need to learn to drive on slippery roads or stay home.
Said Neshannock Township Supervisor John DiCola Jr.: “Some of the services we’ve been receiving … maybe we just aren’t going to be able to do that anymore.”
___
Associated Press Writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.