With a slick layer of ice still coating many Lincoln streets, police and city staff are asking drivers to take responsibility for their own safety.
Police have increased their enforcement of traffic laws and efforts to educate drivers in high-crash areas through a new project aimed at reducing rear-end collisions this winter.
Officers expect the city's number of crashes — which police attribute most often to drivers following too closely or being distracted — to increase amid the cold and inclement weather ahead, Officer Angela Sands said Tuesday.
In 2017, 43 percent of crashes in the city were rear-end collisions, according to police.
During “Project Back Off,†officers will continue issuing citations for violations such as speeding or following too closely, but will also hand out green educational placards encouraging people to increase their following distances on city streets, Sands said.
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The green placards warn drivers to put down their food and phones, set their stereo levels before they leave and not groom themselves while driving.
At traffic signals, drivers should count to two as the car in front of them goes before they start moving, the placard says.
Tuesday's announcement from police comes as drivers deal with slippery neighborhood streets days after Sunday's snowfall.
Because both the National Weather Service and private weather consultant forecasts predicted rain before the accumulating snow, the city did not treat streets with its anti-ice brine solution before Sunday's storm hit.
"Rain dilutes the pre-treatment and greatly reduces its effectiveness as an anti-ice tool," Tim Byrne, manager of maintenance operations for Lincoln's Public Works and Utilities, said in an email. Withholding treatment also helps to preserve the city's stock of brine for future events when it would be more effective, Byrne said.
And because Lincoln got only 3.6 inches of snow, it did not meet the city's standard for clearing of residential streets, which remained mostly ice-covered in many areas Tuesday.
Byrne said the city moves in to clear residential streets when there is at least 4 inches of snow. Public Works does provide service in residential areas on a request-only basis through its snow center. Those requests are addressed after priority streets are clear.
"Our first priority is to provide the safest driving conditions possible under varying weather conditions," Byrne said. "For this reason, our first service goal is to treat emergency snow routes and high traffic-volume arterial streets — streets where our work has the maximum impact in helping prevent crashes and secondary crashes. Our second service goal is to deliver treated streets that help support the greatest needs of our transportation and economic network, which is why arterial, bus and school routes are high on our list of priorities."
He said the city clears 1,180 lane-miles of emergency snow routes, arterial streets, and school and bus routes during and after a snowfall, a number that more than doubles if the 4-inch snow threshold is met.
As for streets that remain icy, Byrne said, "We always warn drivers to use caution over the next few days and increase stopping and following distance, especially on streets that have not been treated."
According to the weather service, temperatures in Lincoln should climb above freezing Wednesday and Thursday before precipitation returns to the forecast Friday.
Rain will change to snow Friday, and possibly Saturday and Sunday, forecasters said.Â