- EDEL TRIPP/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Is the price of gas leading to fewer traffic fatalities?

Date published: 8/14/2008

By KELLY HANNON

It's possible that record-setting gas prices have one public health benefit--fewer traffic fatalities in Virginia.

Statewide, the number of traffic deaths has fallen by about 100 people.

Through yesterday, 504 people had died in vehicle crashes in Virginia, compared with 610 people on the same date in 2007.

Fatal vehicle crashes in the Fredericksburg area have also declined.

By early August, 39 people had died on Fredericksburg-area roads, compared with 48 victims the previous year.

Caroline County had the most pronounced change. In 2007, seven people had died in fatal crashes by mid-summer. This year, there was only one fatality.

There may be a simple explanation--people are driving less.

Americans drove 53.2 billion fewer miles from November to June, compared with the same months in 2006 and 2007, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which released the numbers Wednesday.

That's the largest driving decline in U.S. history, surpassing the 49.3 billion mile decrease during the 1970s oil crisis. Highway fatalities have decreased nationwide so far this year, the National Safety Council reported.

Rural travel fell the furthest, dropping 4 percent. Travel in urban areas dropped 1.2 percent, the federal agency reported.

At the same time, public transit ridership has risen to a 50-year high. Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation during the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 88 billion trips from the first three months of 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

But no one can definitively conclude that fewer miles driven equals fewer deaths.

"I wish I had one common denominator, but there's so many factors that go into fatalities and traffic crashes overall," said Corinne Geller, Virginia State Police spokeswoman in Richmond. "Last year was a record year, unfortunately, in Virginia."

More than 1,000 people died in vehicle crashes in 2007. It was the largest number of victims in the state since 1990.

EMPHASIZING SAFETY

In response, state police created the Highway Safety Challenge. With help from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, they ask drivers to do five things:

Drive the speed limit.

Buckle up.

Limit distractions.

Don't drive while impaired.

Share the road with other vehicles, including bicycles.

Date published: 8/14/2008

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