<p>Bay, I think the under 21 laws have decreased fatalities at least among the under 21 age group - according to NHTSA the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities involving young drivers is MUCH less than the overall percentage of alcohol-related fatalities (about 22% compared to 40%)</p>
<p>And I would agree that there has been an overall decline in alcohol-related traffic fatalities since the under 21 laws went into effect in 1984 - although not so much in the past 15 years; again, according to NHTSA statistics, in 1982 the percentage of alcohol-related traffic totalities compared to all totalities was around 60% and currently is around 40%, (which still seems too high to me, and of course is not just due to the age). What is also disturbing is that 3/4 of this reduction occurred by 1992 when the percentage of alcohol-related deaths was 45% and since then there has not been any significant decrease so in that respect you’re right, they haven’t been working as well in the past 15 yrs (although the under 21 rates have been much lower). But this can be due to many factors also - such as improved safety features and stricter enforcement in the past decade, etc. Oh yeah, and maybe those lower under 21 fatality rates are also due to education efforts that are lacking in the larger population?</p>
<p>And that is the difficulty, isn’t it? There are many factors involved even when focusing only on the drunk driving/fatality aspect. But this is more than just a debate over 18 vs 21 or as it relates to fatality rates (and having grown up surrounded by alcoholism I know this for a fact). The problem is the drinking culture and attitudes that pervade our society; our young people are adopting these attitudes at very early ages - WELL before they even step foot on college campuses. Those numbers are even more disturbing since they do not seem to be declining, especially the rates of those who are binge drinking (vs those who are just experimenting or learning to “drink in moderation”). If it weren’t for the high binge drinking rates - the irresponsible and dangerous drinking that occurs - perhaps both sides of this issue would be having very different and much less divided discussions on this topic and how to deal with it. </p>
<p>But all of this has been said so often before. Perhaps, in the end, nothing really matters unless we can first change our society’s attitudes toward drinking, and we are destined to stay at that 40% fatality level? (and even risk increasing it if we become more lax with the laws/enforcement efforts we do have). And will just have to live with that. This is the line that really divides us isn’t it - those of us who believe that things can change (included attitudes) as a result of all our concerted efforts to attack what we perceive to be social problems and those who don’t perceive them to be problems to begin with.</p>