When gas prices soared in summer, traffic fatalities in the state dropped. But as prices eased in fall, the number of fatalities here didn’t bounce back.
Traffic deaths in the state are down more than 10% for 2008, on the heels of a 6% decrease in 2007, when 1,210 people died on Tennessee roads.
In part that’s because Tennesseans drove less – the number of vehicle miles traveled in the state shrank about 3.3% this year. But Governor’s Highway Safety Office Director Kendell Poole says the correlation with gas prices doesn’t tell the whole story.
“As gas prices started to come back down dramatically, and I believe it’s right around a dollar-fifty a gallon right now in most places in Tennessee, we have noticed that the fatalities have stayed exceptionally low.”
Other states have seen fatalities increase again as gas prices decline.
While Tennessee numbers for 2008 won’t be finalized for months, Poole says if things stay on track it would mark the fewest fatalities in the state since 1963.
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