Causality

$1.59

That's how much I paid for gas the other day and as I mentioned before, I've got mucho problemos with cheap gas.

Here's one more problemo to add to the list...traffic fatalities.

From Ryan Avent at The Bellows...

The number of people killed in traffic crashes in the U.S. this year is expected to be the lowest on record, federal transportation officials said Thursday. Early projections show traffic deaths for the first 10 months of 2008 are down about 10 percent compared with the same period last year. Estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that 31,110 people died on the nation’s roads from January through October, compared with 34,502 during the same period in 2007.

Call me crazy, but I suspect there might be some connection between reduced fatalities and reduced driving. For the year to date, Americans have driven an estimated 3.5% fewer vehicle miles than they did in the same period in 2007.

The decline in the fatality rate might also have something to do with the root cause of the decline in vehicle miles traveled — higher gas prices. Drivers reportedly drove slower (truckers especially) to save gas money. The average size of the vehicle fleet probably shrank as well, as people sold bigger trucks and SUVs, or simply drove them less.

I totally agree.