Effectiveness of Fake Identification and Social Host Laws on Reductions in Underage Drinking Driver Fatal Crashes

Introduction: The public generally assumes that the Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21 (MLDA-21) legislation in the United States is embodied in a single law, and therefore, all states have the same law. Actually, the MLDA-21 state laws consist of multiple provisions that support the core MLDA-21 laws and comprise a family of policies directed at controlling underage drinking and underage drinking and driving. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of social host and fake identification (FID) laws, which have recently garnered the interest of state policymakers.

Methods: The effective dates for two types of social host laws and three FID laws were documented using the Alcohol Policy Information System, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 2011 Report to Congress on the Prevention and Reduction of Underage Drinking, and legal research tools. These laws include social host prohibitions and social host civil liability, the use of FID, retailer support for FID, and transfer/production of FID. We used a pre-post design to evaluate the influence of these five laws on underage drinking and driving fatal crashes using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) dataset for the years 1982 through 2010. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, controlling for as many variables as possible.

Results: For those drivers under age 21, FID supplier laws were associated with significant decreases in FARS ratios after states adopted these laws (-1.0%, p = .030).

Conclusions: The 24 states that have adopted FID supplier laws are saving an estimated 14 lives per year in the United States. An additional 16 lives could be saved if the remaining states adopted this law. FID supplier laws prohibit the production of FID or transfer of ID or FID to another person. The more stringent the law (i.e., whether a state prohibits only one element [weaker] or prohibits both transferring and manufacturing FID [stronger]) the more effective a deterrent it becomes to supplying a minor with FID. States without FID supplier laws should consider adopting them.