Dead on Arrival: Zero Tolerance Laws Don't Work

Abstract

"By 1998, all states had passed laws lowering the legal blood alcohol content for drivers under 21 to effectively zero. Theory shows these laws have ambiguous effects on overall fatalities and economic efficiency, and the data show they have little effect on driver behavior. A panel analysis of the 1988-2000 Fatality Analysis Reporting System indicates that zero tolerance laws have no material influence on the level of fatalities, while quantile regression reveals virtually no change in the distribution of blood alcohol content among drivers involved in fatal accidents." ("JEL": I18, K32, D11) Copyright (c) 2009 Western Economic Association International.

Optimal Drunk Driving Penalty Structure

“…This finding, coupled with our earlier results concerning the expediency of lower BAC thresholds for adults, implies that zero tolerance laws, too, should not reduce drunk driving fatalities. In a recent, exhaustive, retrospective panel study, the first to focus on assessing zero tolerance laws econometrically, Grant (2006) concludes the same thing.…”

“…These studies typically estimate policies' effects on traffic fatalities using panel data analyses that exploit variation in the dates these policies are adopted by different states. Differences in technique, sample, and controls have often yielded variable or conflicting results, as with the laws mentioned above (Dee, 2001;Eisenberg, 2003;Freeman, 2007;Grant, 2006;Mast, Benson, and Rasmussen, 1999;Ruhm, 1996). These studies are also inherently retrospective, and so cannot be used to analyze proposed changes in the law.…”

Reducing underage alcohol and tobacco use: Evidence from the introduction of vertical identification cards

“…Carpenter (2003) examines the impact of zero tolerance laws which set the legal blood alcohol content limit for minors at low levels and finds reductions in heavy drinking for males but no effect on self-reported drunk driving. Grant (2010) finds no evidence that zero tolerance laws reduce traffic fatalities. Dee (1999) examines the impact of beer taxes and increasing minimum legal drinking ages and finds the former has no effect, while the latter are associated with decreased consumption.…”

“…Research has linked tobacco use with increased rates of lung cancer, as well as respiratory conditions such as asthma (Healthy People Initiative, 2010). Alcohol use has been linked to adverse health and economic outcomes for teens such as crime (Carpenter, 2005;Carpenter and Dobkin, 2010), risky sexual behavior (Waddell, 2011;Carpenter, 2005), reduced employment Mullahy and Sindelar, 1996), poor academic performance Carrell et al 2011), and traffic fatalities (Grant, 2010;Dee, 1999). The medical and social costs of treating drinking and smoking related illnesses are estimated to be in the billions (Miller et al, 2006;CDC, 2008).…”

Per se drugged driving laws and traffic fatalities

“…Several studies have found that ZT drunk driving laws, which make it illegal for individuals under the age of 21 to operate a motor vehicle with detectable levels of alcohol in their blood, are negatively related to traffic fatalities (Dee and Evans 2001;Eisenberg 2003;Voas et al 2003). 11 In contrast, Grant (2010) found that the estimated relationship between ZT drunk driving laws and daytime traffic fatalities was as strong as the relationship between ZT drunk driving laws and nighttime traffic fatalities. Because a substantial proportion of fatal crashes at night involve alcohol (Dee 1999), this pattern of results raises the possibility of omitted variable bias.…”