ome. Last March, two of my friends got into a car accident at 5 Oclock in the morning coming home from a party where alcohol was served. The driver didnt make it. If there are still teenage drinking accidents when the legal drinking age is 21 then why would we lower the drinking age and make it easier for teenagers to get a hold of it? More than 40 percent of teenage deaths occur in motor vehicle accidents, 38.9 were alcohol related crashes. Between 1985 and 1995, the proportion of drivers 16-20 years who were involved in fatal crashes, and were intoxicated, dropped 47 percent from 23 percent in 1985 to 12.7 percent in 1995. (Teens and Drunk Driving) Each day 11 teenagers are killed because of alcohol-influenced car accidents. Also, about 400 teens are injured each day in alcohol related car accidents, and there are 130,000 injuries to teen drivers each year. (Why teens use Alcohol)Something else that people who want to lower the drinking age bring up; the fact that the Europeans dont even have a drinking age, but according to the American Medical Society, regarding Europeans and alcohol use among youth, research confirms that Europeans have rates of alcohol-related diseases (such as cirrhosis of the liver) similar to or higher than those in the U.S. population. However, drinking and driving among youth may not be as great a problem in Europe as in the U.S. Compared to their American counterparts, European youth must be older to obtain their drivers' licenses, are less likely to have a car, and are more inclined to use public transportation. (Minimum Legal Drinking Age)I think that the National Minimum Purchase Age Act was a good thing to pass. From the research I have looked at, everything looks positive. There has been a 63 percent decrease in alcohol-related crash fatalities among teenage drivers, a decrease in marijuana use, crime, and alcohol consumption by youths at all. ...
