New figures from the Federal Highway Administration show that Americans cut back on their driving again in October. They logged 2.3 percent less, or 254 billion miles, compared with October a year ago, the eighth consecutive month there has been a decline. A broader measure — the 12-month total of miles driven — shows that motorists fell back to the low of 2.963 trillion miles driven reached at the end of the recession in 2009.

Given these statistics it will be useful to compare the accident rates and whether there is an equal decline in car accident claims in Oregon.