Traffic deaths fall as gas prices climb

Note that changing the speed limit didn't bring this about. Car & Driver magazine has repeatedly published information from studies consistently showing traffic congestion as the problem, not speed. Another way to reduce congestion on a piece of roadway is to increase the speed limit - so people get off the road sooner.

AP IMPACT: Traffic deaths fall as gas prices climb - Yahoo! News:
"COLUMBUS, Ohio - Rising prices at the gas pump appear to be having at least one positive effect: Traffic deaths around the country are plummeting, just as they did during the Arab oil embargo three decades ago.
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No one can say definitively why road fatalities are falling, but it is happening as Americans cut back sharply on driving because of record-high gas prices.

Fewer people on the road means fewer fatalities, said Gus Williams, 52, of Albany, Ga., who frequently drives to northern Ohio. "That shows a good thing coming out of this crisis." He has also noticed that many motorists are going slower.

The federal government reported in April that miles traveled fell 1.8 percent in April compared with a year earlier, continuing a trend that began in November.

Experts say a slumping economy and fuel prices have brought down the number of road fatalities in a hurry.

"When the economy is in the tank and fuel prices are high, you typically see a decline in miles driven and traffic deaths," said John Ulczycki, the council's executive director for transportation safety.
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Even considering new safety measures by states, it is now clear that, just like in the early 1970s, motorists are cutting discretionary travel and reducing the kind of late-night outings for alcohol that often lead to deadly accidents, Hurley said.
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Fatality rates have remained relatively flat over the last 15 years or so, totaling 42,642 in 2006, the last year for which complete figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are available.

Regulators say a better gauge of road fatalities is the number per 100 million miles traveled, a rate that has been declining even as Americans drive more. In 2006, that figure fell to its lowest level: 1.42 deaths.

Yet the drop-off this year is even greater and appears to be accelerating."