A grit bin, salt bin or sand bin is an item of street furniture, commonly found in countries where freezing temperatures and snowfall occur, which holds a mixture of salt and grit that is spread over roads if they have snow or ice on them. Spreading rock salt over roads and pathways is commonly done either by hand or with a winter service vehicle and helps improve road safety in frosty conditions. The salt helps reduce the freezing temperature of the ice, which can be effective in temperatures of up to -9°C. Roads that are not gritted during winter are much more dangerous for vehicles and foot traffic and so busy routes can be gritted several times per day under harsh snowy conditions.