Report: Age-21 drinking laws save lives

Nov 25, 2008

Age-21 drinking laws prevented more than 4,000 drunk driving deaths over a five-year period, according to data (.pdf file) released Nov. 6 by NHTSA.

NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis studied crash data to estimate the number of lives saved by various safety measures. It determined that between 2003 and 2007, approximately 4,441 lives were saved because of minimum drinking age laws. NHTSA also estimated that motorcycle helmet use, which increased from 1,173 in 2003 to 1,784 in 2007, saved approximately 7,502 lives during the same period. Also in the report:

• Front air bags saved 2,788 passengers ages 13 and older.
• Child safety seats saved the lives of 358 children 4 and younger.
• Seat belts saved 15,147 lives and could have saved 5,024 more lives had all vehicle occupants worn them during crashes.