Traffic accidents down dramatically as people stay at home

It might not be safe to hug a stranger, but driving on freeways is safer than ever.

All over major U.S. cities traffic is down, pollution is down, accidents are down.

According to a study by the University of California, Davis, California traffic accidents have fallen by 50 percent since March 19, when the populace was ordered to stay at home.

Typically, there are 1,000 collisions and 400 accidents that result in injuries or fatalities every day on the congested freeways of California.

Now the numbers are 500 collisions and 200 injury/fatality accidents.

The study measured these highways: I-5, both north of Los Angeles and toward Oceanside, U.S. Route 101, U.S. Route 99, state road 152 toward Los Banos and I-280 toward Daly City.

Pollution is also down worldwide. A Stanford scientist studied satellite imagery and found a dramatic decline in air pollution. Marshall Burke, assistant professor in the Stanford Department of Earth System Science, predicted that quarantine might save 77,000 lives in China.

In Los Angeles, as April began, residents were enjoying their fourth week of smog-free air.

In fact, the air is clearer from Los Angeles to India, which has 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. Major cities in India, something new is in the sky: blue. Living with such badly polluted air makes dwellers in such cities uniquely at risk for viruses like Covid-19.

However, scientists say with the resumption of factory work and traffic, blue skies will once again be replaced with gray.