NEWS RELEASEAugust 21,
2008
"Lowering the minimum drinking age from 21 to 18 represents a
clear and present danger to Georgia's young drivers. And the motorists who share
our roads with them."
- Bob Dallas, Director, Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety
(ATLANTA) Today in the wake of controversial coverage of
efforts to lower the national drinking age from 21-to-18, the Governor's Office
of Highway Safety (GOHS) affirmed its opposition to any attempts to change the
so-called MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age).
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports show
the MDLA has reduced traffic fatalities involving drivers aged 18-to-20 years
old by 13-percent, saving 900 lives every year. Approximately 36 of those young
lives saved each year are in Georgia. "So changing the drinking age now would be
like losing a whole classroom of our college students for an entire graduating
class in Georgia each year," said GOHS Director Bob Dallas.
GOHS supports the position of both Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD) and the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) that lowering
the drinking age would not only step-up underage drinking but binge drinking as
well.
"The 21-Law is working every day to save lives in Georgia,"
said GOHS Director Dallas. "Lowering the legal drinking age would have the
undeniable effect of making alcohol more accessible to youth. If Georgia lowers
the drinking age, more of our young people will drink and drive and more of our
young people will die."
The strong GOHS opposition was announced in response to the
Amethyst Initiative, which was launched last month with support from many
college chancellors and presidents who say they believe the 21-year-old drinking
age is not working and has created a culture of binge drinking. So far, about
114 university leaders nationwide have signed their support for the initiative.
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) was enacted by Congress
in 1984.
By 1988, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had
enacted MLDA 21 laws. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA), decades of research have consistently shown that the
enactment of MLDA 21 Laws has been one of the most effective countermeasures
ever implemented to reduce alcohol-related fatalities. Such laws have been
estimated to have saved a total of 25,000 lives since 1975.
"We are dismayed that some college and university presidents
have signed onto an initiative aimed at repealing this life-saving law," said
GHSA Chairman Christopher Murphy. "Both research and hands-on experience of
state highway safety agencies indicates this law has saved countless lives.
Underage drinking remains a serious problem that needs to be addressed, but
lowering the drinking age would be a gigantic step backward for highway safety."
In Georgia, the following institutions have signed their
support for the Amethyst Initiative: Oglethorpe University, Georgia Southwestern
State University and Spellman College. Morehouse College President Robert
Michael Franklin Jr., who was initially a backer of the controversial effort,
has now withdrawn his support.
The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety applauds the
Morehouse decision and the 101 Georgia colleges and universities that remain
standing in opposition to this wrong-headed initiative and refuse to give it
their support. "We want to thank the majority of Georgia colleges and
universities for making the right choice to maintain the drinking age where it
is," said GOHS Director Bob Dallas. "We especially thank Morehouse College for
placing the wellbeing of its students in the forefront and instead withdrawing
its support to the Amethyst Initiative. Now we encourage Oglethorpe, Georgia
Southwestern State and Spellman colleges to reconsider their support of this
misguided stance."
Why is the Amethyst Initiative so ill-advised? Because
lowering the legal drinking age in Georgia will result in more deaths of our
teens who kill themselves and others by driving impaired. In no uncertain terms,
these institutions of higher learning are advocating a deadly public health and
public safety policy change. They ignore data and the experience of other
countries which are also experiencing an alarming increase in binge drinking
even though their drinking ages are lower.
"Quite frankly, these colleges and universities are looking
for a quick fix," says Director Dallas. "It's akin to prescribing a smart pill
for calculus rather than showing up to take the course."
"This deadly Amethyst Initiative also ignores the fact that
many Georgia teens turn 18 while still in high school and most don't go to
college,"
said Dallas. "That simply pushes responsibility for handling
the underage drinking problem down to high school teachers and principals, and
parents of students still at home."
GOHS applauds the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia
Southern, Georgia State University and other Georgia institutions which have
comprehensive programs to educate their students about the deadly dangers of
underage drinking. "Many of our colleges have been at the forefront of combating
underage drinking by establishing curriculums to help change the student
drinking culture, tightening alcohol policies on campus, and promoting
responsible beverage sales in their communities," said Director Dallas. "These
approaches combined with effective enforcement have reduced impaired driving and
related crashes and injuries on our roadways."
Please visit the following websites to learn more about the
possible adverse effects of lowering the drinking age and the organizations who
oppose such an action:
For more information click the link
Governor's Office of
Highway Safety, or please call 404-656-6996.
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SHSO Digest - 18 Aug 2008 to 21 Aug 2008
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