Does the Minimum Drinking Age Affect Traffic Fatalities?

In: Journal of policy analysis and management: the journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Band 6, Heft 2, S. 180-192

Abstract

Since the mid-1970s, numerous states have raised their minimum legal drinking age in an effort to reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents. The determinants of a variety of traffic fatality rates are examined at the state level for 1978, with particular attention to drinking age & drinking experience. The legal drinking age has no perceptible influence on fatalities, but inexperience in drinking is an apparent risk factor independent of age. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of higher drinking ages as a safety policy tool probably has been overstated. 5 Tables. HA