Energy Politics

As you grumble to yourself while filling up your tank, at least take this to heart: driving fatalities have dropped since oil prices have increased.

There was a 9% decrease nationwide in traffic deaths from January through May compared to the same period last year. This includes an 18% drop in deaths in March 2008 compared to March 2007. At least 31 states have had a decrease in deaths during the first half of the year of at least 10%, with some claiming to have seen a drop of 20%. Only a handful of states have actually increased their driving deaths compared to the same time last year.

Now of course, the state governments want you to think it’s a fallacy to believe that less speeding, aggressive driving and overall time on the road is the cause of less deaths. No, the government is to thank for this, with police officers pursuing more speeders and drunk drivers, teen-licensing programs and safer vehicles.

I’m sorry guys, but THAT’s the fallacy. People don’t break driving laws out of ignorance. No sane person actually believes it’s perfectly okay to cut people off, drive drunk, ram another vehicle or drive 20mph over the posted speed limit. People do those things because they think they won’t get caught, or they don’t care how their actions may affect other people. Human behavior dictates that there’s always extenuating circumstances to skirt the rules, usually when it benefits the person justifying this behavior.

Which means when gas is cheap and plentiful, people are less likely to be concerned about how their driving habits are affecting their fuel economy, let alone the safety of their fellow drivers. But when they have to pay $4 a gallon, suddenly every drop of gasoline is sacred.  You’re less likely to get sideswiped by some idiot running a red light at supersonic speeds when fuel prices are high, because less people can afford to be burning up all that gas.

I would love to believe that people are driving safer out of the kindness of their heart, but I know better. As sad as it is to admit it, just as selfishness causes accidents to happen when people drive carelessly, selfishness about paying for fuel is likewise keeping people safer when they can’t afford to be racing to every red light.

–Stephen Payne, Editor, Oil and Gas Investor This Week; www.OilandGasInvestor.com; spayne@hartenergy.com

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