This report updates previous ones on the impact of raising and lowering the legal drinking age. Crash data from Virginia indicate the following: The percentage of all crashes that are alcohol-related have increased significantly since 1974 for persons under 16, 16 to 19 years, and 20 to 24 years. Such increases were not noted for adults. In 1982, when the legal age for purchasing beer for off-premises consumption was raised to 19, percentages of alcohol-related crashes for the affected age groups dropped. From 1974 to 1982, numbers of alcohol-related crashes were higher than expected, based on previous trends, for persons under 16, 16 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years. Numbers of non-alcohol-related crashes and alcohol-related crashes for adults were not higher than expected. These trends for young persons were tentatively reversed in 1982. It was concluded that Virginia should take a more protective stance towards its 16 to 20 year olds and increase the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years.

This report updates previous ones on the impact of raising and lowering the legal drinking age. Crash data from Virginia indicate the following: The percentage of all crashes that are alcohol-related have increased significantly since 1974 for persons under 16, 16 to 19 years, and 20 to 24 years. Such increases were not noted for adults. In 1982, when the legal age for purchasing beer for off-premises consumption was raised to 19, percentages of alcohol-related crashes for the affected age groups dropped. From 1974 to 1982, numbers of alcohol-related crashes were higher than expected, based on previous trends, for persons under 16, 16 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years. Numbers of non-alcohol-related crashes and alcohol-related crashes for adults were not higher than expected. These trends for young persons were tentatively reversed in 1982. It was concluded that Virginia should take a more protective stance towards its 16 to 20 year olds and increase the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years.

This report updated previous reports on the impact of raising and lowering the legal drinking age. The legal drinking age for beer in Virginia was lowered from 21 to 18 years in 1974. The percentage of all crashes that were alcohol-related increased significantly after 1975 for persons under 16, 16 to 19 years, and 20 to 24 years. Such increases were not noted for other adults. The data indicated that lowering the drinking age for beer from 21 years to 18 years had a selective and deleterious effect on persons under 21. In July of 1981, the age at which a person could buy beer in stores for off-premises consumption was raised to 19 years (the age for on-premises sales remained at 18). The percentage of all crashes which were alcohol-related began to decrease in 1982, the first full year in which the age change was enforced. Alcohol-related crashes in 1982 and 1983 were significantly lower than expected given trends which existed after the drinking age was raised for both adults and persons 16 to 19. These data indicated that while raising the drinking age to 19 years for the off-premises sale of beer may have resulted in reduced alcohol-related crashes for the affected age groups, something else not specifically related to age reduced alcohol-related crashes for all ages. In July of 1983, the age at which a person could buy beer on-premises in restaurants and taverns was also raised to 19 years. Not enough time had passed to provide data concerning the impact of this change.