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21 Minimum Drinking Age
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| We Don't Serve Teens Federal Trade Commission website with information about the benefits of the legal drinking age of 21, and links to state drinking age laws |
"GHSA strongly supports the 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law. Both research and the hands-on experience of state highway safety agencies indicate that this law has saved countless lives. Underage drinking remains a serious problem that needs to be addressed, but lowering the drinking age would be a gigantic step backward for highway safety."
- Vernon F. Betkey, Jr., Chairman, Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and Chief of the Maryland Highway Safety Office
In response to the ongoing debate about the 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has formed a Support 21 Coalition to educate the public about the scientific research behind the underage drinking law and how it saves lives. In addition to GHSA and MADD, other groups in support of the 21 drinking age law include the National Transportation Safety Board, the American Medical Association and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
As stated in GHSA's Highway Safety Policy & Priorities, "GHSA supports the uniform minimum drinking age of 21 and urges that such laws prohibit the purchase, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages by those under 21, the sale or provision of alcohol to minors by adults and underage drinking in private clubs and establishments." GHSA is committed to seeing that the drinking age is not lowered.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “When the drinking age was raised, crashes went down almost 30 percent. It's irresponsible to assert that untested educational programs could alter these results. If we allow states to lower the drinking age again, more teens will drink and drive and more will die."
NHTSA estimates nearly 25,000 teen traffic deaths have been prevented by age-21 laws. The percentage of teen drivers killed in traffic crashes with a BAC above the legal limit has dropped from 56 percent in 1982 to 23 percent in 2005.
For more information, visit http://why21.org, where you will find:
Read GHSA's arguments against lowering the drinking age on the new policy debate website Opposing Views.
