Good morning, Chairman Jones and members of the Regulated Industries Committee.  The National Transportation Safety Board pleased to offer a statement on the Board’s recommendations for closing loopholes in the minimum drinking age law.  .

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress to investigate transportation accidents, determine their probable cause, and made recommendations to prevent their recurrence.  The recommendations that arise from our investigations and safety studies are our most important product.  The Safety Board has neither regulatory authority nor grant funds.  In our nearly 40-year history, organizations and government bodies have adopted more than 80 percent of our recommendations.

The Youth Alcohol-Highway Safety Problem

The Safety Board has recognized for many years that motor vehicle crashes are responsible for more deaths than crashes in all other transportation modes combined.  More than 90 percent of all transportation related deaths each year result from highway crashes.  Each year, about 40 percent of highway deaths nationwide are alcohol-related.  Alcohol-related fatalities increased from 16,694 in 2004 to 16,885 in 2005, and the number of alcohol-related fatalities remains substantially higher than in 1999, when approximately 15,790 people died in alcohol-related crashes.

The emotional toll on families is staggering, but impaired driving also has a financial impact.  According to calculations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the lifetime cost to society for each fatality is over $977,000; alcohol-related crashes cost society billions of dollars each year.  While the affected individual covers some of these costs, overall, NHTSA estimates that those not directly involved in crashes pay for nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes, and travel delay.  Clearly, much needs to be done to reduce this ongoing tragedy.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for persons between 15 and 20 years of age.  During the 1980s, the nation saw a reduction in alcohol-related fatal crashes, directly attributable to raising the legal minimum age for the sale and public possession of alcohol to age 21.  It is estimated that minimum drinking age laws, imperfect as they are, have prevented nearly 25,000 fatalities since 1975.  The fact that a minor, who cannot legally purchase alcohol, has a positive BAC demonstrates that underage drinking and driving remains a problem.  Teenage drivers with a BAC between 0.05 and 0.10 percent are far more likely to be killed in single vehicle crashes than sober drivers or older drivers with similar BAC levels. 

Young drivers comprise about 7 percent of licensed drivers but 16 percent of the alcohol-involved drivers in fatal crashes.  In 2005, 23 percent of young drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes had an illegal (0.08 percent or greater) BAC.  More than 60 percent of youth alcohol-related crash fatalities occurred in rural areas.  Self-reported monthly alcohol use by high school seniors increased from 48.6 percent in 1993 to 50 percent in 2000. Binge drinking increased from 27.5 percent to 30 percent.  Clearly, these young people had access to alcohol.  Because underage drinking and driving remains a problem, Florida needs comprehensive Age 21 laws.

Comprehensive Age 21 Laws (SB 1954)

Restricting the ways in which minors can obtain alcohol is an effective countermeasure for underage drinking and driving.  Closing loopholes that allow minors to purchase, possess, or consume alcohol can further decrease the tragic highway problem.  In 1993, the Safety Board called on all states to close loopholes in their minimum drinking age laws by adopting a comprehensive law that prohibits alcohol sale to minors and the attempt to purchase, purchase, possession, consumption, age misrepresentation, and use of false identification by minors to purchase alcohol. 

Florida prohibits the sale of alcohol to minors.  Florida also prohibits minors from purchasing or possessing alcohol and from using fake identification or misrepresenting their age to obtain alcohol.  Florida also prohibits underage attempt to purchase alcohol.  Senate Bill 1954 clearly defines and prohibits the consumption of alcohol by a minor.  This bill sends a clear message to young persons, their parents, and police that Florida is serious about underage drinking.  Further, the identification seizure provision should provide a deterrent to purchase of false identifications.  The Safety Board supports this bill. 

The Board notes that the bill provides a BAC of 0.02 percent as prima facie evidence of violating the law.  In addition, police should be able to cite an underage person where a BAC test is not available, but the presence of alcohol can be documented.