New studies are showing that as gas prices are rapidly rising, fatalities from auto accidents are on the decline up to 33%. The study conducted examined auto accidents from 1985-2006, and even broke down their findings by age groups.

Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School said they found that for every 10 percent increase in gas prices there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths. For drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent.

Their study looked at fatalities from 1985 to 2006, when gas prices reached about $2.50 a gallon. With gas now averaging more than $4 a gallon, Morrisey said he expects to see much greater drop — about 1,000 deaths a month.

With annual auto deaths typically ranging from about 38,000 to 40,000 a year, a drop of 12,000 deaths would cut the total by nearly a third, Morrisey said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Factors of the decline include teens who can’t afford to drive as much, the switch from bigger vehicles to those that are more compact and fuel efficient, and people driving slower to conserve fuel.
 

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