Ron Barnett of "The Greenville News" reported today that:

If there was an upside to last summer’s spike in gas prices, it could be that it helped save more than 150 lives by reducing the number of miles driven on South Carolina highways…..

The ups and down of the economic woes we have faced over the past year or more continue to have their far reaching impact.  Likewise, I indicated that drivers were forgoing their insurance premiums as another way to cut costs.

As Mr. Barnett indicated in his article:

Greenville, the state’s most populous county, had the most traffic fatalities in 2008, 70, a decrease from 88 the year before.

The number of roadway fatalities in Pickens County fell from 26 to 17, while Oconee dropped from 24 to 14, Anderson went from 49 to 27 and Laurens was down from 17 to 15, according to the preliminary numbers.

The increase in highway patrolman was also credited as a potential factor in the decrease in fatalities.  As prior articles have indicated:

1. Biker Deaths were on the rise in 2008;
2. November is the peak month for deer collisions; and
3. Nobody plans on dying in a freak accident.

Keep driving safely!