Driving gets worse as cars get safer

Driving is getting more dangerous, but safer vehicles are offsetting the risky behaviors, according to a study of 20 years of traffic data. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that between 1985 and 2004, the death rates per vehicle and per mile went down. . . .

Institute president Adrian Lund says that during the 1990s driving got more dangerous because of lack of interest in DWI laws, raising of speed limits, and enforcement of safety belt rules. . . . But safer vehicle designs have offset the bad driving, saving an estimated 5,200 lives in 2004 alone. The full study will be released later this year, and will detail the effect of the introduction of SUVs on death rates. I'm guessing the news won't be good.