HISTORICAL TRENDS IN ALCOHOL USE AND DRIVING BY YOUNG AMERICANS

Liver cirrhosis (a measure of alcoholism) and motor vehicle fatality rates rose rapidly in the U.S. in the 1960's but have remained constant or decreased slightly in more recent years. Statistics indicate that most alcohol-related accidents occur at night, particularly on weekend nights, as do the highest fatality rates for young drivers. Persons younger than 30 drive on weekend nights more frequently than expected considering their representation in the driving population. Although younger age groups are overrepresented among fatalities, older drivers are most frequently arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. "On-the-record" hospitalizations of alcoholics occur most frequently among men in their middle to late 40's, but self-reported drinking problems are more typical of younger males. By age 17, half of all fatally injured drivers in five western states with 21 as the legal drinking age have alcohol in their bodies; a third have an illegal blood alcohol concentration. Studies have shown that lowering the legal drinking age increases automobile accidents among adolescents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting studies of states which have recently raised their legal drinking age.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Published in HS-030 215, "Minimum-Drinking-Age Laws. An Evaluation," Lexington, Massachusetts and Toronto, 1980, pp 59-72.
• Corporate Authors:

  Lexington Books

  4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200
  Lanham, MD  United States  20706
• Authors:
  • Voas, R B
  • MOULDEN, J
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 14 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Alcoholism; Crash rates; Diseases and medical conditions; Drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Legal drinking age; Liver; States; Teenage drivers; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cirrhosis; Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00379508
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-030 219
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 30 1983 12:00AM