Government road checks on the skids
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• The Government is launching a £9 million-a-year scheme to monitor skid levels on Britain's roads in a bid to save 1,800 lives per year.
The Department of Transport plans to check a third of its trunk network each year, using a fleet of water tankers specially adapted to measure skid resistance on road surfaces. Experts hope the "controlled monitoring" will help them to plan resurfacing and skid-prevention work more efficiently, and to reschedule many non-urgent repairs.
The vehicles, called SCRIM (Sideway force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine) have been in use since the early 1970s, but this is the first time they have been used in a national co-ordinated scheme.
They are designed by engineers at the Dip's Transport and Road Research Labora tory, and are made by WDM of Bristol. SCRIM machines spray the surface with water and use an angled wheel attached to the centre of the tanker to measure skid resistance.
Several local authorities already use the vehicles, and the DTp hopes the success of the scheme will persuade more councils to follow suit.