A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF A UNIFORM MINIMUM DRINKING AGE. FINAL REPORT

This report examines the relationship between minimum drinking age (MDA) and highway fatalities during the 1975-1985 period, when 35 states changed their MDAs. An econometric model of fatalities involving the 18-20 year-old driver normalized by the 18-20 year-old population is used to compare the fatality experience of states with a change in MDA to that of states without a change in their law. The effect of a national uniform MDA of 21 depends on the status of individual state MDAs when the change is implemented; however, it is estimated that an 11 percent decrease in highway fatalities involving 18-20 year-old drivers can be expected if the MDA is increased from 18 to 21.