College Drinking: Less Than You Think

Since 1995, the decline has slowed, and the number of young drivers involved in fatal crashes has stayed relatively static, although NHTSA reports that the percentage of alcohol-related fatalities for all age groups dropped from 60 percent in 1982 to 39 percent in 2005.

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The report on young drivers, "Determine Why There Are Fewer Young Alcohol-Impaired Drivers," credits the minimum drinking age of 21 and zero-tolerance laws, but says that those changes "clearly did not cause the entire decrease," pointing out that Canada saw a similar decline over the same period, even though its drinking age didn't change and zero-tolerance alcohol laws weren't enacted until after the drop was recorded.

And that's what was really striking to me.

What changed over the reporting period, says the NHTSA, for both quantifiable and unquantifiable reasons, were young people's attitudes toward drinking and driving, although "most youths still drink." (I think we've established that.)

But there are some surprises there, too. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reports that drinking by college students is down, with 86.2 percent saying they had consumed alcohol in 2003, compared with 93.6 percent in 1991.

But what about all that binge drinking we read about? All those college kids getting blotto at big parties every weekend, the ambulances on call outside the dorms to help students who drink themselves silly?

MADD cites a 2002 Harvard study saying that 44 percent of college students admit that they binge drink -- that is, if they're men, they've had five or more drinks in a row in a two-week period, or four or more drinks in a row if they're women. That's a Friday night party at either JMU or the College of Charleston, as far as I can tell.

But the study's numbers also mean that more than half don't binge drink.

Everyone agrees that we need to keep working to bring those drinking and accident numbers down further. But in the meantime, my husband and I take some solace from the NHTSA report, which concludes that North American "youth have separated their drinking from their driving."

Over the din of weekend kegger parties, my sons bear this out.

They tell me that yeah, lots of people play beer pong on the weekends -- with the occasional vomit showing up on someone's floor or in their closet -- but they're not drinking and driving. They're staggering home; they're busing it; they're spending the night; they have designated drivers.

Thank Mothers Against Drunk Driving, thank school programs, thank the laws, but thank all us plain old worried parents, too.

"We got it that it can ruin your life and kill somebody," said my elder boy-man last week. "We're just not that stupid, Mom."

Really? You're not? Okay, that makes me feel a little better. Now, will you promise you'll grow out of all this after college?

deaned@washpost.com

Daniela Deane is a reporter on The Washington Post's Metro staff.