Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

Lowering the drinking age? Why we should not lower the drinking age? Let me explain some reasons why not to lower the drinking age. One is that if we lower the drinking age we might be contributing to more fatal accidents. Second, lowering the drinking age might influence 18-year-olds to buy alcohol for younger teenagers (age 15-17). And third, 18-year-olds may not be mature enough to know their limitations on drinking.

If we lower the drinking age we might be contributing to more fatal accidents. According to a study based on data from New Zealand, lowering the drinking age increases car crashes among youth. The drinking age was lowered from 20 to 18 in 1999. The study found that the rate of traffic crashes and injuries increased 12% for 18-19-year-old males and 14% among 15-17-year-old males comparing the four years before and after the New Zealand legislature lowered the drinking age to 18. For females, rates rose 51% for 18-19-year-olds and 24% for 15-17-year-olds. The study estimated that 400 serious injuries and 12 deaths each year among 15-19-year-olds could be prevented if New Zealand raised their minimum legal drinking age ( Minimum Purchasing Age for Alcohol and Traffic Crash Injuries Among 15- to 19-Year-Olds in New Zealand American Journal of Public Health. 2006). Even though this study is from New Zealand, there is still a possibility that the same thing will happen here in the United States if we were to lower the drinking age.

Lowering the drinking age might also influence 18-year-olds to buy alcohol for younger teenagers, ranging from the ages of 15-17. If they buy the alcohol for the younger teenagers we might hear more about fatal crashes but they would be with younger teenagers. See they