Raising the legal drinking age in Maine: impact on traffic accidents among young drivers.
The minimum legal age for purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages continues to be a controversial issue in North America as numerous jurisdictions that lowered the legal age in the early 1970s are returning to higher drinking ages. Monthly frequencies of motor vehicle crashes among drivers aged 18-45 in the states of Maine and Pennsylvania from 1972 through 1979 were examined using a multiple time series design. Controlling for the effects of long-term trends, seasonal cycles, and other factors with Box-Jenkins time series models, a significant 17-21% reduction in alcohol-related property damage crash involvement among drivers aged 18-19 is attributable to Maine's increase in drinking age. No demonstrable effect of the raised drinking age on the incidence of injury and fatal crashes was found.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D006801:Humans; D007880:Legislation, Drug; D008281:Maine; D008875:Middle Aged