Jeffrey Miron
Over 30 people die per day in drunk driving crashes, according to national estimates.
One mechanism for reducing these deaths might be restrictions on the kind of business that can sell alcohol. Researchers studied such laws in Texas, where
cities can use local option elections to decide whether to permit particular types of alcohol sales [e.g, at on-premise locations like restaurants versus off-premise locations like liquor stores].
The findings suggest that
[l]egalizing alcohol sales increased retail access but did not measurably change traffic crashes in Texas cities, suggesting that the consequences of alcohol liberalization depend on where alcohol is purchased and consumed.
This expanded access was location-dependent:
The findings are consistent with a possible shift toward off-premises purchases but do not establish that increased retail purchases replaced purchases at bars and restaurants. … Because the Texas elections mainly expanded off-premises retail access, they may have increased convenience without increasing the form of alcohol consumption most closely associated with impaired driving.
All in all, the
findings challenge the assumption that making alcohol easier to purchase necessarily increases drunk driving.
Cross-posted from Substack.
