in Niigata Prefecture
About the results of the winter tire installation rate survey on Expressway (3rd)

-Approximately 20% are not fitted with winter tires-

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  • About the results of the winter tire installation rate survey on Expressway in Niigata Prefecture (3rd)

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December 1, 2020
East Nippon Expressway Co., Ltd.
Niigata Regional Head Office

At NEXCO EAST Niigata Regional Head Office (Chuo-ku, Niigata City), on November 29th (Tuesday), four Expressway in Niigata Prefecture and other places will be serviced for the purpose of encouraging early replacement of winter tires and enlightening safe driving on winter roads. We conducted the third winter tire installation rate survey this winter in the area (SA) and parking area (PA).
Winter tires are installed in 79% of all vehicles (98% for large vehicles, 67% for small vehicles), an improvement over the previous survey, but about 20% of customers still did not install winter tires. . This year, we have already observed the first snow in the mountainous areas of the Expressway in Niigata Prefecture. Please help us to change to winter tires early and carry chains.

1. 1. Outline of winter tire installation rate survey

Survey method

  • Surveyor visually confirms the tire type of the vehicle parked in the SA / PA surveyed
  • Investigate about 50 units at one location
  • Large vehicles are oversized vehicles, large vehicles, medium-sized vehicles, and small vehicles are regular vehicles and light vehicles classified by charge type.

Survey place

E17 Kan-Etsu Expressway Tanigawadake Parking Area
E8 Hokuriku Expressway Yoneyama SA Kurosaki PA
E18 Joshinetsu Expressway Myoko Service Area

  • All carried out on the Out-bound

Scheduled survey date / Result announcement date

  • The survey date is subject to change due to weather and other reasons.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Scheduled survey date 11/15 (Tue) 11/22 (Tue) 11/29 (Tue) 12/6 (Tue)
Results publication date 11/17 (Thu) 11/24 (Thu) 12/1 (Thursday) 12/8 (Thursday)

2. Survey results (surveyed number: 204)

Survey location Classification Number of surveys Wearing rate First snow day
Ordinary tire Winter tires Total This survey
11/29 (Tue)
【reference】
2nd survey
11/22 (Tue)
E17Kan-Etsu Expressway
Tanigawadake PA
(Out-bound)
Small car 6 16 22 73% 40% Last year: 11/26
This year: not observed
Large car 1 27 28 96% 97%
Total 7 43 50 86% 74%
E8Hokuriku Expressway
Yoneyama SA
(Out-bound)
Small car 9 23 32 72% 32% Last year: 12/17
This year: not observed
Large car 1 19 20 95% 83%
Total 10 42 52 81% 44%
E8​ Hokuriku Expressway
Kurosaki PA
(Out-bound)
Small car 9 20 29 69% 28% Last year: 12/17
This year: not observed
Large car 0 23 23 100% 76%
Total 9 43 52 83% 52%
E18Joshin-Etsu Expressway
Myoko SA
(Out-bound)
Small car 16 22 38 58% 52% Last year: 11/26
This year: not observed
Large car 0 12 12 100% 89%
Total 16 34 50 68% 62%
total Small car 40 81 121 67% 40%
Large car 2 81 83 98% 87%
Total 42 162 204 79% 58%

3. 3. Request from NEXCO EAST Niigata Regional Head Office

  • Please "wear winter tires early" and "carry chains".
    It is very dangerous to drive on snowy roads without winter tires, so if you have not yet installed winter tires, please replace them as soon as possible.
    When driving on winter roads, make sure that the tread depth of the vehicle tires is not worn down to 50% less than when new.
    Also, in case of heavy snow, you may be required to wear chains even on winter tires, so please do not forget to carry chains.

On Expressway in Niigata Prefecture in winter, there are vehicles that cannot climb slopes due to normal tires of ordinary vehicles and vehicles that cannot run due to stacking of large vehicles.

Photo of inability to climb slopes due to normal tires of ordinary cars
Photo of disabled vehicle due to heavy vehicle stack
  • Please drive slowly and safely on snowy roads.
    At the beginning of the snowfall season, the feeling of driving on snowy roads has not returned, so there is a tendency to cause traffic accidents even with winter tires.
    Please drive safely by keeping a sufficient distance between vehicles and refraining from speeding, and avoiding operations with "sudden" such as "sudden steering," "sudden acceleration," and "sudden braking."
    Also, stacks are more likely to occur during snowfall. The NEXCO EAST official youtube introduces the mechanism of stacking and how to prevent stacking, so please take a look at it as a reference for safe driving.

Reference video: "How to avoid getting stuck! ? I will explain how the stack occurs.』

  • Please collect information frequently before and during your trip.
    The weather changes suddenly on Expressway in winter. Even if it is sunny at your departure point, it may be snowing at your transit point or destination, so please check road and weather information frequently before you leave or at service areas.
    "Drive Traffic (DraTra)" provides real-time road traffic information and Expressway surface conditions (snow live camera).
Image of Dr. Mammoshi

NEXCO EAST, in order to use the winter Expressway safely, securely, comfortably and conveniently, safety awareness activities and traffic safety campaigns at SA / PA / toll offices, and national Expressway / SA information site "DraPla" , "Dr. Mammoshi's Winter Expressway Course" is actively disseminating information on snowy roads.

  • " NEXCO EAST Niigata Regional Head Office Twitter @e_nexco_niigata"
    We provide information on traffic jams, closed roads, and driving / travel information in Niigata Prefecture.
  • Please register as a friend of the LINE official account "NEXCO EAST". Search ID → @e-nexco
    Last year, we operated the Niigata Regional Head Office version of LINE account, but from November 16th (Wednesday), we have Large to the entire NEXCO EAST jurisdiction and started providing information on winter roads using LINE. We plan to send information useful for driving on winter roads, such as predictions of road closures and road images, so please transfer friend registration from the 2D code or new registration.

"NEXCO EAST" LINE friend registration two-dimensional code
"NEXCO EAST" LINE friend registration two-dimensional code (external link)

The NEXCO EAST Group has positioned the period from 2021 to 2025 as "a period to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and transform toward a new future society", and is carrying out various initiatives.
We believe that the implementation of this winter tire installation rate survey will contribute to SDG Goal 3 as a business activity that will lead to the reduction of casualties due to traffic accidents.

Image of the SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS logo and the 3rd SDGs logo
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