NHTSA (National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration) just reported that traffic fatalities increased sharply in  2015 for the first time in years.  Fatalities have been slowly declining, more than 22 percent from 2000 to 2014 as reported to NHTSA. Is cheaper gas the reason for the increase?  Apparently, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of miles traveled in the U.S., up by 80.2 billion miles in the first nine months of 2015,from the year before.  So more time on the road with more miles traveled may be the reason for the spike in traffic fatalities.  It would be interesting to see if other countries with cheaper gas have the same increase in deaths.  

So as we drive more miles in 2016 for vacation or just around town, keep in mind that we are extending our time on the road where accidents and traffic fatalities can occur.  It makes sense that the more time we spend driving that the more risk we have in operating our cars, trucks and motorcycles. One of the downfalls of cheaper gas. And we Americans love our cars and trucks especially with cheaper gas.