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

• Published in: American journal of preventive medicine Vol. 47; no. 6; pp. 788 - 795
• Main Authors: Callaghan, Russell C., PhD, Gatley, Jodi M., BSc, Sanches, Marcos, MSc, Asbridge, Mark, PhD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.12.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic - prevention & control; Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data; Age Factors; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol Drinking - legislation & jurisprudence; Automobile Driving - legislation & jurisprudence; Biological and medical sciences; Canadians; Female; Humans; Internal Medicine; Law; Legislation; Male; Medical sciences; Men; Miscellaneous; Motor vehicles; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Quebec (province); Quebec - epidemiology; Social Control, Formal - methods; Transportation; Women; Young Adult; Youth; Canada; North America; America; Quebec; Minimum-age; Legislation; Legal aspect; 2000; Traffic accident; Drinking; Motor vehicle
• ISSN: 0749-3797; 1873-2607
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2014.08.012

Background International debates are occurring about the effectiveness of minimum legal drinking age laws. Most minimum legal drinking age evaluation studies have focused on motor vehicle collision outcomes, but this literature is primarily based on naturalistic experiments involving legislation changes in the U.S. in the mid-1980s. Few studies have provided up-to-date estimates of the impacts of Canadian drinking age laws on motor vehicle collisions to inform current policy discussions. Purpose To estimate the impacts of minimum legal drinking age legislation on motor vehicle collisions occurring in 2000–2012 in Québec, a province with a minimum legal drinking age of 18 years. Methods Using Québec Ministry of Transportation records of police-reported motor vehicle collisions in 2000−2012, regression-discontinuity analyses were employed to assess the impacts of the minimum legal drinking age on motor vehicle collisions. All data were analyzed in 2013. Results Relative to individuals slightly younger than the minimum legal drinking age, male and female drivers just older than the minimum legal drinking age had a significant and abrupt increase of approximately 6% (men, 6.3%, p =0.003; women, 5.9%, p =0.047) in population-level motor vehicle collisions, as well as a significant 11.1% ( p =0.001) rise in nighttime motor vehicle collisions (a proxy for alcohol-related collisions). Conclusions Drinking-age laws continue to be an integral component of contemporary alcohol-control and driving-related policies designed to limit motor vehicle collisions among youth. In addition, the regression-discontinuity approach can guide future work to estimate potential minimum legal drinking age impacts on other health outcomes.