Mass transit saves gas - and lives
Hard as it is to believe, there is a real benefit to gasoline being more than $4 per gallon.
As the cost of driving has gone up, the number of fatal crashes on our roads has gone down. Which is only predictable, given we are using our cars less to save on the fuel bill. Fewer cars mean fewer accidents.
Earlier this month, the Illinois State Police reported that this year may wind up being the least deadly on Illinois roads in many, many years. Through Sept. 5, 681 traffic fatalities had occurred - 172 fewer than at the same time in 2007, according to an Associated Press story.
More revealing of increased safety in motor vehicle travel are the statistics from last year. In 2007, there were 1,248 traffic deaths - the lowest number since 1924, when there were far fewer cars on the road.
High gasoline prices aren't alone reducing the number of fatal crashes. The state has passed laws that have both increased our chances of surviving a crash and reduced the risk of getting into one.
In 2003 Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into a law a bill passed by the legislature that made not wearing a seat belt a traffic violation in its own right. Before then, motorists could not be pulled over solely for refusing to wear a seat belt. Since the so-called primary seat belt enforcement law went into effect in 2003, lifesaving seat belt use has gone up from 76.2 percent to 90.5 percent this year.
A series of laws aimed at increasing the road readiness of those at very high risk of getting in crashes - teen drivers - has also reduced the number of fatal accidents on Illinois roads. A crackdown on drunken driving has also served to reduce the number of fatal crashes caused by intoxicated motorists.
But there is no doubt that crashes that kill are in decline because of the simple fact that the volume of vehicles on the roads is not what it used to be before the cost of gasoline skyrocketed.
And motorists who are choosing mass transit over driving are not only saving money on fuel, they also might be saving their lives. The American Public Transportation Association reports that cities with large well-established commuter rail systems, which describes the Chicago area, have 36 percent lower per capita traffic deaths.
Gasoline is never again going to be "cheap", which is one good reason to make a strong, long-term investment in the expansion of mass transit options in the suburbs. But another great benefit is that there is going to be far fewer people making the trip from the crash site to the morgue.