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NATION

As gas prices rise, number of auto deaths could drop

WASHINGTON — Today’s high gas prices could reduce auto deaths by nearly a third as driving decreases, with the effect particularly dramatic among price- sensitive teenage drivers, the authors of a new study said.

Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama-Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School found that for every 10 percent increase in gas prices there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths. For drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent.

The study looked at fatalities from 1985 to 2006, when gas prices reached about $2.50 a gallon. With gas now averaging more than $4 a gallon, Morrisey said he expects to see a drop of about 1,000 deaths a month.

Alcoa plans to cut jobs in Mexico and Honduras

PITTSBURGH — Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. said Friday it plans to cut more than 1,200 jobs in Mexico and Honduras because of weak demand from the North American auto market.

The Pittsburgh-based company said it had begun restructuring its electrical and electronic systems business due to “economic and structural changes in the North American light truck and SUV market demand.”

The roughly 1,240 jobs to be cut represent about 11 percent of the Alcoa unit’s total work force of 11,600 in the two countries.

Associated Press