Abstract
This paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of the effects of “Zero Tolerance” (ZT) Drunk Driving Laws—which set very low legal blood alcohol limits for individuals under age 21—on self-reported alcohol use and drunk driving using data from the 1984 to 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). I estimate two-way fixed effects models of alcohol-related behaviors of 18–20-year-olds that can condition on unobserved differences across states that may be correlated with determinants of drinking and drunk driving, and I use 22–24-year-olds as a control group. Results indicate that the laws reduced heavy episodic drinking (five or more drinks at one sitting) among underage males by 13%. This result is supported by models that use variation in treatment intensity induced by differences in body weight. I find mixed evidence of ZT effects for females, and no robust effects on drinking participation or drunk driving for either sex.
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