STUDY LINKS INCREASING FUEL COSTS TO STEEP DROP IN TRAFFIC FATALITIES

Washington Post - As prices at the pump soared above $4 a gallon, road fatalities have plummeted nationwide, according to a study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. If current trends continue, traffic deaths this year could reach a low not seen since 1961, when the Beatles were playing small clubs in Liverpool and gas was about 31 cents a gallon.

The study's author, Michael Sivak, said that high fuel costs have not only kept more cars off the road. . . there is evidence that many motorists are slowing down to conserve fuel, which contributes to fewer and less severe crashes, he said. In addition, drivers are cutting back on nonessential trips and leisure driving, which tend to occur at night and on weekends when driving is more hazardous than during a slow commute. And low-income teens and seniors, who have been hit harder by high prices and tend to have more crashes, are driving less to save money, Sivak said.