The effects of lowering the legal drinking age in Virginia : final report.

Lynn, Cheryl · 1981 · ROSA P / Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)

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Summary

This report evaluates the impact of Virginia’s 1974 legislation, which lowered the legal drinking age for beer to 18 while maintaining the age for wine and hard liquor at 21. Motivated by a nationwide trend to extend adult privileges to those of military age, the study specifically examines the consequences of this policy change on highway safety. The research aims to determine if increased alcohol accessibility for young drivers correlates with changes in accident rates, focusing exclusively on traffic safety rather than broader social or educational impacts. The methodology combines a comprehensive review of existing literature regarding youth drinking and driving with an empirical analysis of Virginia crash data from 1969 to 1979. The Virginia data, sourced from state police records, were categorized by driver age (under 16, 16–19, and 25+) and crash type (alcohol-related vs. non-alcohol-related). Researchers employed historical trend analysis, projecting pre-1974 crash patterns into the post-legislation period to isolate the effect of the law change from other variables, such as the 1974 energy crisis. The literature review included comparative studies from other U.S. states and Canada where drinking ages had been altered. The findings indicate that lowering the drinking age significantly increased alcohol consumption among newly enfranchised 18-to-20-year-olds, particularly draught beer consumed in restaurants and taverns, which increased the likelihood of driving after drinking. A "spillover" effect was also observed, with increased consumption and crash involvement among younger cohorts aged 13 to 17. In Virginia, alcohol-related crashes for drivers aged 16 to 19 rose significantly above projected trends following the law change, whereas crashes for older drivers decreased, likely due to the energy crisis. Literature reviews corroborated these findings, showing substantial increases in alcohol-related fatalities and crash involvement for young drivers in other jurisdictions, with no corresponding increases for older drivers or in states that did not lower their drinking ages. The report concludes that lowering the legal drinking age had a demonstrably adverse effect on highway safety for young persons. It recommends that the Virginia Department of Transportation Safety support legislation to raise the drinking age. Specifically, it suggests an incremental approach, raising the age to 19 in 1981, 20 in 1982, and 21 in 1983, to minimize political resistance and disenfranchisement shocks. The authors argue that a more protective stance toward 18-to-20-year-olds is necessary to reduce alcohol-related accidents, noting that while raising the age will improve safety, it may not fully reverse established drinking habits among those already exposed to alcohol at 18.

Key finding

Lowering the legal drinking age for beer to 18 resulted in significant increases in alcohol-related crashes for drivers aged 16 to 19 in Virginia.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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