Gas prices may be causing decline in fatal crashes

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.

Researchers with the National Safety Council report a 9 percent drop in motor vehicle deaths overall through May compared with the first five months of 2007, including a drop of 18 percent in March and 14 percent in April.

Traffic deaths in Virginia have dropped 2008, according to statistics from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. There were 438 fatal crashes in Virginia between Jan. 1 and July 15, compared to 541 for the same time period in 2007 — a 19 percent drop, the statistics showed.

Sgt. Michelle Cotten, a spokeswoman for Virginia State Police, said fatal crashes in Hampton Roads declined slightly this year. Numbers for Hampton Roads were not available Tuesday evening.

Preliminary figures obtained by The Associated Press show that some states have reported declines of 20 percent or more. Thirty-one states have seen declines of at least 10 percent, and eight states have reported an increase, according to the council.

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.

Staff writer Patrick Wilson contributed to this story.