High price of fuel

A recent study in the US has shown that as petrol prices go up, the number of deaths from car accidents go down. They found the decrease to be about 33% annually with the greatest effect being for teen drivers. The study was based on data for years between 1985-2006 when petrol reached $2.50 a gallon in the US. With petrol prices there now teetering on, if not over, $5 a gallon the death toll is set to decrease - unless there is a push towards lighter, more fuel efficient cars which will put more people back on the roads, and more use of motorcycles and scooters. The authors of the study were Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School, and their observations are good news - especially with nearly 40,000 recorded fatalities on US roads each year.
It would be interesting to see if any similar research has been, or is being done here in Australia. And to see if there is a matching decrease in traffic-related injuries as well.