Saffer and Grossman (1987a,b) first examined the impact of beer excise taxes and MLDAs on youth fatality rates from motor vehicle crashes. The investigators used State-level fatality rates for youths ages 15 to 17, 18 to 20, and 21 to 24 for the years 1975 through 1981 and controlled for various other factors expected to affect drinking and driving and the probability of fatal crashes. Both studies concluded that increases in beer taxes or MLDAs would significantly reduce youth motor vehicle fatalities. For example, the studies predicted that a policy adjusting the beer tax for the inflation rate since 1951 would have reduced fatalities among 18- to 20-year-old youths by 15 percent. Moreover, a uniform MLDA of 21 years would have lowered youth fatalities by 8 percent between 1975 and 1981.
