Citation

Voas RB, Romano EO, Fell JC, Kelley-Baker T. Transp. Res. Circular 2009; (E-C132): 9-17.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, U.S. National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Elder and Shults (2002) reported that between 1982 and 2001 the rate of drinking drivers in fatal crashes per 100,000 population in all age groups declined by 46%. In contrast, the rate for teenagers (15 to 17 years) declined 60% and for youths (18 to 20 years), 55%. Various explanations have been suggested for the reduction in alcohol-related crashes over the last quarter century. A study by Dang (2008), recently published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found evidence that two factors were of major importance: (1) demographic changes including the aging of the population and a decline in the proportion of licensed drivers who are males, and (2) the passage of several impaired-driving laws, particularly the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) law. Because of the evidence that drivers younger than 21 are at higher risk for involvement in crashes, particularly alcohol-related crashes, the contribution of that age group to the observed reductions in alcohol-related crashes is of special interest. Given the large number of laws and programs initiated during the last quarter century that affect drivers of all ages, there is interest in determining whether youth for whom special “status” laws were enacted benefited more than older drivers did. This topic is relevant to the current controversy over the benefits of the MLDA law. The Dang study found that the MLDA law reduced by 40% the fatal crash involvements of underage drivers with blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. The objective of this study is to update the Elder and Shults (2002) study. Because of the complex factors that influence alcohol-related crashes, this report considers several methods, other than population, for calculating crash rates to measure the trend for underage drinking drivers in alcohol-related crashes between 1982 and 2004.