GREENVILLE, S.C. -- High gas prices are having some unintended positive consequences. Drivers are driving less and slowing down.

"I have to really think about where I'm going and what I'm doing," Roger Gilreath of Greenville told WYFF News 4's Beth Brotherton.

It's paying off, both in their pocketbook and on the roadways. Fewer people are dying in traffic collisions.

Fatalities are down in the first six months of year nationwide and in the Upstate.

In Greenville County in 2007, there were 49 deadly wrecks between January and June. This year the total is just 27.

During that same time period in Anderson County, there were 45 fatal accidents last year and just 22 this year.

"Of course when you drive slower you have a better reaction time," Greenville County Sheriff's Master Deputy Mike Rinehart. "You have to drive defensively. If you are driving at a high rate of speed and someone pulls out in front of you, the faster you drive the less time you have to react to the person that is doing something wrong."

According TIME magazine, if gas remains at $4 per gallon for a year or more, expect as many as 1,000 fewer fatalities a month nationwide.

For other benefits of high gas prices, Click Here