Benefits Of Legal Drinking Age

At this point in my life there are a very few things holding me back from what most people would call total freedom. In less than a month’s time, I will be twenty years old. I’ve been able to exercise my rights at a legal adult for almost two full years now, one thing that I have not been able to do is buy or drink alcohol legally, that was a steadfast rule that I thought was ingrained into our society and would never get real backing…until now. Recently major universities across the country are now petitioning lawmakers to think twice about the legal drinking age and reconsider their stances on the subject. Since universities are places of importance with highly respected people the issue is actually getting looked at in a serious light, more
This idea isn’t a new one, during the Vietnam War the thirty-seven President Richard Nixon signed a bill that lowered the drinking age to eighteen for twenty-nine states. After a short time the bill was quickly over turned due to the amount of car accidents that were fatal. (1) According to the national Highway traffic safety Administration the number of fatal car crashes were cut 20% after the bill was overturned and the drinking age was restored once again to twenty-one. Since 1975 is has been estimated that 19,121 lives have been saved from increasing the age back to twenty-one another very staggering statistic is that when the state of Vermont raised their drinking age back to twenty-one after the bill had been reverted they also reported fatal traffic accidents dropped by 40%. Even though the legal drinking age is now twenty-one the leading cause of deaths of teens is still fatal car crashes while the driver is intoxicated.
It has only been forty years since the drinking age was lowered and the results were evident then, and they should still be clear to us now. The quote of “History repeats itself” should be implied to this situation. With cars being made to go faster and able to be purchased by many teens today the roads are just as dangerous if not worse. Before the bill is passed, all the pros and cons should be considered and take into the account what is best for the whole of the nation and not just colleges, and realize how far the effect will reach down into the youth of the