Impacts of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age on Motor Vehicle Collisions in Québec, 2000−2012

Impacts of drinking-age legislation on alcohol-impaired driving crimes among young people in Canada, 2009-13

“…The results showed significant gender × MLDA effects, as well as MLDA effect estimates on AID incidents for males and females similar to those estimates presented from the local regression modeling in Table (available from the corresponding author). As a result, these findings, along with our previous work demonstrating differential impacts of the MLDA across gender , supported the construction of gender‐specific models.…”

“…Drawing upon national police‐reported criminal incident data in Canada , our study suggests that release from drinking‐age restrictions is associated with increases in AID crimes among young male and female Canadian drivers. This work extends previous research from our team which has shown that young drivers slightly older (versus those just younger) than the MLDA incur significantly increased levels of driving‐related harms, such as in‐patient/emergency department hospitalizations , mortality and population‐based patterns of police‐reported MVCs . Based on the study findings, it appears that transition across the MLDA is an important phase of driving‐related risk for young people, and it may be helpful for public health strategies to target this period with tailored, event‐specific interventions.…”

“…Our prior regression–discontinuity work has shown that the MLDA has a significant impact on male patterns of in‐patient hospitalizations and mortality due directly to MVCs, whereas the MLDA showed no evidence of significantly affecting these outcomes among females . Our research team also has demonstrated that, in comparison to youth slightly younger than the MLDA, both males and females slightly older than the MLDA had significant increases in population‐level MVCs . In the current study, the MLDA laws were associated with significant and abrupt increases among both males and females, but with more pronounced effects occurring in young men.…”

“…This literature, however, has a number of limitations. Even though some recent studies from Canada , New Zealand and the United States have demonstrated patterns consistent with earlier findings, most MLDA literature is 2–3 decades old, as relevant studies drew predominately upon the natural‐experiment designs facilitated by MLDA legislative changes in the 1980s in the United States , 1990s in New Zealand , 1980s in Australia and 1970s in Canada . Research relying on the natural experiments occurring decades ago may not inform current Canadian policy discussions adequately (or ongoing MLDA debates in other countries), especially given important changes that have occurred in Canada in this area: reductions in youth drinking‐and‐driving , implementation of comprehensive provincial graduated driver's licensing (GDL) legislation [with restrictions on blood alcohol content (BAC)] and enactment of increasingly severe penalties for drinking and driving .…”

“…Our recent work has demonstrated that young drivers newly released from drinking‐age restrictions experienced sharp and immediate increases in driving‐related harms, such as in‐patient hospitalization/emergency department utilization , mortality directly attributable to MVCs and patterns of police‐reported, population‐based MVCs . In addition, Carpenter & Dobkin demonstrated recently in a regression–discontinuity study that Californian young adults just older than the United States ’ MLDA (21 years) incurred an abrupt and significant 25% increase in driving‐under‐influence (DUI) arrests, in comparison to those slightly younger than the MLDA.…”