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(Ivanhoe Newswire) A higher drinking age really does save lives, according to new research. In what is considered one of the most comprehensive studies on the minimum drinking age, research reveals an 11 percent drop in alcohol related traffic deaths among those under 21.
In 1984, the federal government passed legislation to make the minimum legal drinking age 21 throughout the U.S. By 1988, every state had enforced the new 21 law. There has been evidence since the 1980s that an increase in drinking age to 21 was having an impact on traffic deaths, says James Fell, M.S. of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. But this is the first time weve been able to tease out the real effect, free of the variables that had been used to question the validity of the evidence.
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Data was used from the Fatality Analysis Reporting system, which is a database of all police-reported motor vehicles. In the new study, researchers focused on factors such as improved safety features in cars, better roadways and tougher adult drunk driving laws. They controlled more variables than any other previous study. Fell says the 11 percent drop could actually be a conservative figure and it could actually be higher.
The research also revealed that states with strong laws against fake IDs reported 7 percent fewer alcohol related deaths among youths. Fell says, States that merely confiscate a fake ID, or just give a slap on the wrist to the user, are passing up a significant opportunity to save lives.
SOURCE: Accident Analysis and Prevention, July 2008
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