Citation

Fell JC. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Q. J. 1985; 7(1): 21-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1985, American Association for Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

When the minimum drinking age in most States was lowered from 21 to 18, accidents, deaths, and injuries involving young drivers increased sharply and immediately. Other facts related to the debate on the 21-year-old minimum drinking age are that alcohol-related auto accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans between 16 and 24 years old, and 16 percent of the people who die in alcohol-related crashes are teenagers. Also, 18, 19, and 20 year olds make up only 7 percent of licensed drivers but account for 16 percent of the drivers in alcohol-related crashes. States that raised the legal drinking age to 21 have experienced an average annual reduction of 28 percent in nighttime fatal crashes involving drivers of the affected ages. Drivers between 18 and 20 years old have fatal alcohol-related crash rates per mile driven that are three times those of older drivers. Overall, data indicate that teenage drivers as a group cannot make responsible decisions about drinking and driving.

This document presents justification for a legal drinking age of 21 in all states. The introduction reviews the history of the raising and lowering of the drinking age and the rise in highway accidents and deaths resulting from lowered drinking ages. The federal response of mandating a 21-year-old drinking age for states with the threat of loss of some highway funds for non-compliance is reviewed. Among the facts supporting a 21-year-old drinking age are: (1) when the drinking age was lowered to 18, accidents and deaths involving young drivers climbed immediately; (2) alcohol-related automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for 16- to 24-year-olds; (3) states which raised the drinking age to 21 significantly reduced nighttime fatal crashes of the young; and (4) the fatal alcohol-related crash rate for 18- to 20-year-old drivers is three times the rate for older drivers. Eighteen arguments against the 21-year-old drinking age are presented with rebuttals.