A study found that one out of every five college students admitted to driving while drunk and another 40 percent of college students admitted that they have taken a ride from a drunk driver. The findings from the Center on Young Adult Health and Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Health also showed that the tendency to drive while drunk increases once college students hit the age of 21.
HealthDay News reports that the study's participants included more than 1,250 students at a large mid-Atlantic university. Participants were interviewed once per year for four years to gauge alcohol-related traffic risk behavior.
Study findings led researchers to conclude that reducing the minimum legal drinking age below age 21 would be a bad idea since freshman tend to drink more than upperclassmen. Researchers with the study also found that drunk driving increases at the legal drinking age because of the greater opportunities in the 21+ crowd, such as the ability to legally purchase alcohol and patronize bars.
Arizona DUI attorneys have long argued that lowering the drinking age would not have a large affect on the number of drunk drivers on the roads. Any college student who has been arrested for a driving under the influence related charge should contact an Arizona DUI attorney to learn about defenses to drunk driving. A DUI attorney can help with representation, negotiations, plea bargains, or just simply ensure that a person's legal rights are being protected under the law.
Related Resources:
-
Debate Over Legal Drinking Age in South Carolina Far From Over (FindLaw's KnowledgeBase)
-
Teen Drunk Driving Statistics Demand Attention (FindLaw's KnowledgeBase)
-
Find a Phoenix DUI Attorney (FindLaw)
ShareThis
