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. 2016 Mar;77(2):249-60.
doi: 10.15288/jsad.2016.77.249.

Assessing the Impact of Twenty Underage Drinking Laws

James C Fell  1 , Michael Scherer  1 , Sue Thomas  1 , Robert B Voas  1
Affiliations

Assessing the Impact of Twenty Underage Drinking Laws

James C Fell et al. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Over the last two decades, many states have adopted several of the 20 laws that aim to control youth access to and possession of alcohol and prevent underage drinking in the United States. However, many of these laws have not been evaluated since their adoption. The objective of this study was to determine which minimum legal drinking age 21 (MLDA-21) laws currently have an effect on underage drinking-and-driving fatal crashes.

Method: We updated the effective dates of the 20 MLDA-21 laws examined in this study and used scores of each law's strengths and weaknesses. Our structural equation model included the 20 MLDA-21 laws, impaired driving laws, seat belt safety laws, economic strength, driving exposure, beer consumption, and fatal crash ratios of drinking-to-nondrinking drivers under age 21.

Results: Nine MLDA-21 laws were associated with significant decreases in fatal crash ratios of underage drinking drivers: possession of alcohol (-7.7%), purchase of alcohol (-4.2%), use alcohol and lose your license (-7.9%), zero tolerance .02 blood alcohol concentration limit for underage drivers (-2.9%), age of bartender ≥21 (-4.1%), state responsible beverage service program (-3.8%), fake identification support provisions for retailers (-11.9%), dram shop liability (-2.5%), and social host civil liability (-1.7%). Two laws were associated with significant increases in the fatal crash ratios of underage drinking drivers: prohibition of furnishing alcohol to minors (+7.2%) and registration of beer kegs (+9.6%).

Conclusions: The nine effective MLDA-21 laws are estimated to be currently saving approximately 1,135 lives annually, yet only five states have enacted all nine laws. If all states adopted these nine effective MLDA-21 laws, it is estimated that an additional 210 lives could be saved every year.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Hypothesized structural pathways predicting beer consumption and Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) ratios. ALR = administrative license revocation; BAC = blood alcohol concentration; MLDA-21 = minimum legal drinking age 21; GDL = graduated driver licensing; VMT = vehicle miles traveled.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Total effects of minimum legal drinking age 21 (MLDA-21) laws on under age 21 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) ratios (1982–2012). ID = identification; GDL = graduated driver licensing; RBS = responsible beverage service; ns = not statistically significant.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Total effects of minimum legal drinking age 21 (MLDA-21) laws on annual per capita beer consumption (1982–2012). ID = identification; RBS = responsible beverage service; ns = not statistically significant.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Current and potential annual lives saved by nine minimum legal drinking age 21 (MLDA-21) laws. ZT = zero tolerance; ID = Identification; RBS = responsible beverage service.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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