For those of you who don't know me as well as some of the long-time regulars here, I live in central Minnesota.
I saw
this article today, which says
Traffic deaths in Minnesota dropped in 2009 to its lowest total in 65 years.
In a report released Monday, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety says there were 403 traffic deaths last year. That's down eight percent from 2008, when 455 people were killed on Minnesota roads.
The number of traffic deaths in 2009 is the lowest since 1944 when 356 people died.
Authorities credit a number of factors for the decline in traffic deaths. One of them is the primary seatbelt law. State seat belt compliance is at a record-high 90 percent. Authorities also cited heightened enforcement and the economy, which has people driving slower and less often.
Really? Seatbelt laws and "heightened enforcement" and the economy?
I'll hazard a guess at the biggest factor, and while it's tied to the "economy" cited above, I think I'll get more specific.
It probably has more to do with the fact that in late 2009, MN had
120,300 fewer jobs as compared to 2008 numbers.
Just that many people NOT commuting on a daily basis alone could account for the reduced number of fatalities -- which isn't really that much reduced, in the grand scheme of things. Going from 455 deaths in one year to 403 the next is only a 12% change.
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