Bombs lead to spike in Israel's road toll

WASHINGTON - Fatal attacks in Israel cause an increase in the number of deadly traffic accidents - but not until three days later.

Researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Princeton University in New Jersey found a 35 per cent increase in fatal traffic accidents after bomb attacks. The next day, the accident rate returns to normal.

"Analysing an 18-month period that included a large number of terrorist attacks, we find a lull in the light accident rate the day after an attack followed by a spike in traffic accident fatalities three days after an attack," Guy Stecklov and Joshua Goldstein wrote in their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

What they don't know is why.

"There is a parallel in the suicide literature, where after a well-publicised suicide, three days later there is a spike in fatal accidents," Goldstein said.

"It is not clear whether people intend killing themselves but they behave in such a way that they end up killing themselves."

Goldstein said if people were just driving poorly, they would have seen an increase in all accidents, which did not happen

The researchers looked to see if perhaps people were driving more after an attack, and found that people ventured out less for a few days afterward.

"The results suggest that terror attacks in Israel have broad, short-term behavioural effects on the general populace," they wrote.

- REUTERS