the invention relates to a device , a method and a system for determining a road surface condition , where the surface condition is one of dry , wet or icy . the device comprises a reflectance spectrometer which senses the reflectance properties of the road at one or several wavelengths and uses these reflectance properties to determine the surface condition . the reflectance spectrometer is a wavelength modulation spectrometer , preferably for the near infrared region . the system determines the surface condition and indicates it to a user of the system .