Women catching up with men in one area: driving deaths. (Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

    WASHINGTON _ Women are taking another step toward equality with men _ equality in death on America's highways. 
    A new government study shows that the annual average number of women who died behind the wheel jumped 62 percent from 1975 to 1990, while the number of men who died each year actually went down about 1 percent. 
    The study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said two factors explained much of the increase: There are more women on the road, and they're driving more miles than ever before. 
    But those changes don't explain all of the jump in the women's highway death rate, said George Parker, the agency's associate administrator. The entire nation has more drivers than ever before, and those drivers are logging more and more miles every year. 
    ``Something else has changed for…