While the holiday traffic accident toll in Georgia has upset officials in that state, officials in Iowa have announced that the traffic fatality toll there was down from the year before. Iowa officials have stated that, based on early preliminary numbers, 410 to 415 people were killed in traffic accidents in Iowa in 2008. This is the third lowest rate since World War II. The other two years are 2004 with 388 deaths and 2002 with 405 deaths.

While many across the country struggle to figure out why traffic fatalities occur and ways to stop them, a spokesperson from the Iowa Department of Transportation believes that high gas prices and the recession are the reason. Iowans are driving less and driving slower. He added that though Iowans may not have intentionally been more careful when they drove, the idea of saving money may have created a cautious condition.

It was just a few years before the gas shortages in the '70s that Iowa saw its deadliest year on the road. In 1970, 912 people were killed on the roads.

While people may be driving slower and more cautiously in Iowa, that doesn't mean that all people everywhere are doing this. If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area.