[Bicycles_Biatch]

Here's another MADD policy that's not working... raising the drinking age from 18 to 21:


Researchers at the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University found that raising the drinking age to 21 simply shifted fatalities from those aged 18 to 20 to those aged 21 to 24. They concluded, on the basis of their exhaustive federally-funded study, that drinking experience, not drinking age, is the most important factor. 1

A new and comprehensive study examined the effects of different traffic safety measures (speed limits, discretionary and mandatory seat belt laws, alcohol policies, etc.) over time on a variety of age groups. The researchers found that raising the drinking age was associated with fatality reductions of 5% among 18-20 year-olds at the expense of an 8% increase among 21-23 year-olds. Higher drinking age and "policies which keep teens away from alcohol may to some degree simply shift the attendant mortality risks to young adulthood," they observed. Additionally, "the magnitude of the mortality redistribution" is "quite large." 2

As Dr. Mike A. Males of the University of California observes, "The bottom line is that raising the drinking age to 21 did not improve a young person's odds of avoiding fatal alcohol mishap before age 25." 3

The popular idea that delaying the consumption of alcohol by young people appears highly questionable. As researchers at the Center of Alcohol Studies found, drinking experience reduces traffic fatalities.

This suggests that young people should learn to drink in moderation before learning to drive. Inexperienced drinking combined with inexperienced driving appears to be a highly dangerous mix.

This is not a strange or radical idea. Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Jews, Portuguese and many others around the world teach their children how to drink in moderation as pre-schoolers. What's a strange and radical idea is imposing a minimum drinking age of 21. Of all the nations of the entire world, the U.S.is the only country to maintain this extreme social experiment. The other countries that have tried it (Ukrainia and South Korea) have concluded that it doesn't work and have abandoned it.