Wasn't there some sort of Canadian government environmental study that
determined that road salt should be labeled a hazardous material?
I'd love to see an honest-to-gosh, no holds barred study done on the actual
cost of using salt as a highway deicing agent. You know, something that
would include infrastructure damage, personal property damage (cars, trucks,
roadside plants & shrubbery, etc.), water and soil contamination, and damage
to wildlife (there's GOTTA be some little critter that's been endangered by
the use of road salt). Then, there are highway accidents caused by road
conditions negatively effected by salt.....like, have you ever noticed how
salt, spread on a few inches of nice, fresh, powdery snow will turn that
same snow into a "greasy", treacherous mess, which will pull your car
sharply to one side. How about the way salt hold moisture on pavement,
until it freezes, again? All of these, and others which I've overlooked,
need to be answered.
Recently, in my area, part of a bridge, carrying a secondary road over I-70,
collapsed onto the Interstate. Luckily, no one was killed, although a woman
and her child were injured, when their car slid into the downed girder.
Salt corrosion is thought to be a major cause of the collapse, and there are
hundreds of bridges across the state which are now suspected to be unsafe,
due to the corrosion.
What it all boils down to is: If we eliminate road salt, and other corrosive
deicing agents, will people finally learn how to drive in inclement weather
conditions? I have very serious doubts about that.
Bud Osbourne
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Robert Duquette
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 11:16 AM
To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: RE: Snow and driving which car
Some environmental groups in Ontario, Canada made a recommendation that we
( to oversimplify ) ban road salt and make winter tires mandatory and reduce
the speed limit during winter. I doubt that that is going to happen.
|