Q&As: Teenagers — underage drinking

December 2008

1 Is alcohol a significant factor in teenagers' crashes?

Yes. Young drivers are less likely than adults to drive after drinking alcohol, but their crash risk is substantially higher when they do. This is especially true at low and moderate blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and is thought to result from teenagers' relative inexperience with drinking, with driving, and with combining the two.^1,2

In 2007, 28 percent of 16-20 year-old passenger vehicle drivers fatally injured in crashes had BACs of 0.08 percent or higher. The percentage of fatally injured 16-20 year old drivers with high BACs was much lower among females (16 percent) than among males (33 percent), and also was lower among 16-17 year-old drivers (18 percent) than among 18-19 year-old (28 percent) or 20 year-old (39 percent) drivers.

Drivers ages 16-20 with BACs of 0.05-0.08 percent are far more likely than sober teenage drivers to be killed in single-vehicle crashes — 17 times more likely for males, 7 times more likely for females. At BACs of 0.08-0.10, fatality risks are even higher, at 52 times for males and 15 times for females.2

2 Are there special laws aimed at reducing drinking and driving among teenagers?

Yes. Minimum alcohol purchasing age laws limit access to alcohol among teenagers. For a long time, the legal age for purchasing alcohol was 21 in most of the United States. In the 1960s and early 1970s, many states lowered their minimum purchasing ages to 18 or 19. However, states gradually restored higher minimum purchasing ages so that, by the end of 1984, 22 states had minimum purchasing ages of 21 in effect, and federal legislation was enacted to withhold highway funds from the remaining 28 states if they did not follow suit. Since July 1988, the minimum alcohol purchase age has been 21 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.3

All 50 states and the District of Columbia also have established lower blood alcohol thresholds that are illegal per se for drivers younger than 21. Federal legislation enacted in 1995 that allowed for the withholding of highway funds played a role in motivating states to pass such zero tolerance laws. Typically, these laws prohibit driving with a BAC of 0.02 percent or greater.

3 Are minimum purchasing age laws and zero tolerance laws effective in reducing drinking and driving among teenagers?

Yes. When minimum alcohol purchasing age laws were lowered in many states in the 1960s and early 1970s, Institute research indicated an increase in the number of drivers younger than 21 involved in nighttime fatal crashes.4 When a number of states restored higher purchasing age laws as a result of this and other studies, Institute researchers in 1981 evaluated this development in 9 states, finding that nighttime fatal crashes among young drivers were reduced by 28 percent.5 A subsequent study in 26 states that raised minimum purchasing ages during 1975-84 estimated a 13 percent reduction in nighttime driver fatal crash involvement.6 Numerous other studies have confirmed that raising the minimum legal drinking age to 21 reduced teenage crashes.^7,8,9,10

Studies of zero tolerance laws indicate they reduce crashes among drivers younger than 21. A study of 12 states that passed zero tolerance laws reported a 20 percent reduction in the proportion of fatal crashes that were single-vehicle nighttime events (crashes likely to involve alcohol impairment) among drivers ages 15-20.11

IIHS support for 21 drinking age

4 How has the teenage drinking and driving problem changed over time?

Trends in alcohol involvement in fatal crashes can be monitored through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a census of all fatal crashes in the United States. During the 1980s, the percentages of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher declined among drivers of all ages. Reductions among young drivers were greatest, in part because of changing minimum alcohol purchasing age laws. In 1982, fewer than half of the states had a minimum purchasing age of 21, and 53 percent of all fatally injured drivers younger than 21 had BACs of 0.08 percent or higher. This statistic declined dramatically as states adopted older purchasing age laws. By 1995, it had declined to 24 percent, the biggest improvement for any age group, and was 28 percent in 2007. The per capita death rate of fatally injured 16-20 year old passenger vehicle drivers with a positive BAC declined by half between 1982 and 1995 and a smaller decline was seen between 1995 and 2007 (18 percent).

5 What can be done to further reduce teenage drinking and driving?

States and communities need to make it more difficult for teenagers to purchase alcohol. During 1990-91, Institute researchers found that 19-20 year-olds could easily buy a six-pack of beer in Washington, DC, and a New York City suburb.12 But in two New York counties where police recently had cracked down on underage alcohol purchases, youths were less successful. In these studies, the underage purchasers generally were not even asked by sellers for proof of their ages. During 1994-95, Institute researchers surveyed high school and college students younger than 21 in New York and Pennsylvania about alcohol use and purchasing. Fifty-nine percent of college students and 28 percent of high school students in New York and 37 percent of college students and 14 percent of high school students in Pennsylvania reported they had used false identification to obtain alcohol.13 According to the 2007 Monitoring the Future survey, almost all (92 percent) of high school seniors believe it is fairly easy or very easy to get alcohol.14

One barrier to rigorous enforcement of minimum legal drinking age laws is low funding for state alcohol beverage control agencies. This may inhibit not only the identification of servers, sellers, and purchasers who are violating the law but also the timely application of administrative penalties. Establishments do not always check teenagers' identification cards to establish age, and some teenagers use borrowed/altered or false identifications that are difficult to distinguish from official licenses.15 Research shows that increased sales-law enforcement can reduce the sale of alcohol to minors.16 Clearly, stepping up enforcement of minimum alcohol purchasing age laws is needed to make them more effective.

Institute research has shown that the potential of zero tolerance laws has not been realized. Researchers found such laws difficult to enforce in some states because police must suspect that a young driver has a high BAC before administering an alcohol test for any measurable BAC.17 Enforcement of zero tolerance laws reinforces enforcement of underage drinking laws. However, zero tolerance laws are difficult to enforce independent of DUI because offenders with low BACs are not likely to display the erratic driving that results in drivers with high BACs being stopped.3 Institute surveys of young people in three states found limited knowledge about zero tolerance laws, and many of those who knew about the laws did not believe they often were enforced.18 When zero tolerance laws are enforced they are effective. An Institute study of Washington state's zero tolerance law found that the law increased the likelihood that an underage person would be sanctioned for drinking and driving, especially among drivers with BACs less than 0.08 percent.19 Full enforcement of zero tolerance laws accompanied by publicity about the enforcement is needed to increase effectiveness. Changes to the laws may encourage enforcement efforts.

References

¹Peck, R.C.; Gebers, M.A.; Voas, R.B.; and Romano, E. 2008. The relationship between blood alcohol concentration (BAC), age, and crash risk. Journal of Safety Research 39:311-19.

²Zador, P.L.; Krawchuck, S.A.; and Voas, R.B. 2000. Alcohol-related relative risk of driver fatalities and driver involvements in fatal crashes in relation to driver age and gender: an update using 1996 data. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 61:387-95.

³McCartt, A.T.; Hellinga, L.A.; and Kirley, B.B. 2008. Effects of 21 minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol-related driving in the United States. Arlington, VA: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

⁴Williams, A.F.; Rich, R.F.; Zador, P.L.; and Robertson, L.S. 1975. The legal minimum drinking age and fatal motor vehicle crashes. Journal of Legal Studies 4:219-39.

⁵Williams, A.F.; Zador, P.L.; Harris, S.S.; and Karpf, R.S. 1983. The effect of raising the legal minimum drinking age on involvement in fatal crashes. Journal of Legal Studies 12:169-79.

⁶Du Mouchel, W.; Williams, A.F.; and Zador, P.L. 1987. Raising the alcohol purchase age: its effects on fatal motor vehicle crashes in twenty-six states. Journal of Legal Studies 16:249-66.

⁷General Accounting Office. 1987. Drinking-age laws: An evaluation synthesis of their impact on highway safety: General Accounting Office Report to the Chairman. Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Committee on Public Works and Transportation, House of Representatives. Washington, DC.

⁸O’Malley, P.M.; and Wagenaar, A.C. 1991. Effects of minimum drinking age laws on alcohol use, related behaviors, and traffic crash involvement among American youth: 1976-1987. Journal of Studies of Alcohol 52:478-91.

⁹Shults, R.A.; Elder, R.W.; Sleet, D.A.; Nichols, J.L.; Alao, M.O.; Carande-Kulis, V.G.; Zaza, S.; Sosin, D.M.; Thompson, R.S.; and Task Force on Community Preventative Services. 2001. Reviews of evidence regarding interventions to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. American Journal of Preventative Medicine 21(4 Suppl.):66-88.

¹⁰Wagenaar, A.C.; and Toomey, T.L. 2002. Effects of minimum drinking age laws: review and analysis of the literature from 1960 to 2000. Journal of Studies on Alcohol Suppl. 14:206-25.

¹¹Hingson, R.; Heeren, T.; and Winter, M. 1994. Lower legal blood alcohol limits for young drivers. Public Health Reports 109:739-44.

¹²Preusser, D.F. and Williams, A.F. 1992. Sales of alcohol to underage purchasers in three New York counties and Washington, D.C. Journal of Public Health Policy 13:306-17.

¹³Preusser, D.F.; Ferguson, S.A.; Williams, A.F.; and Farmer, C.M. 1997. Underage access to alcohol: sources of alcohol and use of false identification. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety, 3:1017-25 (ed. C. Mercier-Guyon). Annecy, France: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches en Médecine du Trafic (CERMT).

¹⁴Johnston, L.D.; O'Malley, P.M.; Bachman, J.G.; and Schulenberg, J.E. 2008. Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2007. NIH publication no. 08-6418A. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

¹⁵Schwartz, R.H.; Farrow, J.A.; Banks, B.; and Giesel, A.E. 1998. Use of false ID cards and other deceptive methods to purchase alcoholic beverages during high school. Journal of Addictive Diseases 17:25-33.

¹⁶Grube, J.W. 1997. Preventing sales of alcohol to minors: results from a community trial. Addiction 92:S251-S260.

¹⁷Ferguson, S.A.; Fields, M.; and Voas, R.B. 2000. Enforcement of zero tolerance laws in the United States. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety (CD ROM). Borlänge, Sweden: Swedish National Road Administration.

¹⁸Ferguson, S.A. and Williams, A.F. 2002. Awareness of zero tolerance laws in three states. Journal of Safety Research 33:293-99.

¹⁹McCartt, A.T.; Blackman, K.; and Voas, R.B. 2007. Implementation of Washington state's zero tolerance law: patterns of arrests, dispositions, and recidivism. Traffic Injury Prevention 8:339-45.