Two studies examined factors contributing to the mortality rate resulting from motor vehicle crashes among 18-to 20-year-olds between 1977 and 1992 (Dee 1999) or between 1977 and 1997 (Dee and Evans 2001). Both studies also reported significant negative effects of increases in the beer tax on the motor vehicle mortality rates. Dee (1999) and Dee and Evans (2001) dismiss these findings, however, because the researchers found similar tax effects regardless of whether they studied nighttime fatalities (which commonly are attributable to alcohol use) or daytime fatalities (which are related to alcohol use much less often). Yet one could argue that the potential pool of youth victims of fatal daytime crashes (i.e., youths who drink during the day and then drive), while smaller than the potential pool of victims of nighttime crashes, may be more sensitive to price than other youth drinkers. This would be the case if the youths in question are frequent or heavy drinkers, because as mentioned earlier, evidence suggests that those youths who drink frequently or heavily are quite sensitive to price.
