Gas Prices And Fatalities Linked

A study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, conducted by Michael Morrisey, a professor at University of Alabama at  Birmingham, and Harvard Medical School professor David Grabowski, came to the conclusion that for every 10% increase in gas prices there was a 2.3% decline in auto fatalities. Their study was based on fatality figures from 1985 to 2006. In 2006 gas prices reached record highs of $2.50 a gallon. (boy I’d like to have some of that rite now!) Morrisey said in an interview with the Associated Press, “With the annual auto deaths typically ranging around 38,000 to 40,000 a year and with gas now averaging over $4.oo a gallon we should see a greater decline- more around a third”, which would mean a drop of around 12,000 lives a year, or a yearly range of  26,000 to 28,000 fatalities.

Now the bad news…….. as gas prices go up, more people are going to turn to motorcycles and scooters for transportation. This will result in an increase in deaths in this area and we will see more issues about motorcycle safety and helmet use. 

Special note……. the NHTSA has yet to release the figures for 2007.