A recent study published by the American Journal of Public Health (which also discussed car accidents) reveals that an increase in alcohol taxation saves many lives, especially those due to a DUI automobile accident.  As automobile accident attorneys, we believe this is an insightful finding.

In the extensive study, conducted by the University of Florida’s Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, research participants and statisticians analyzed the number of many different causes of death, including DUIs for teenage drivers, each quarter in Alaska from 1976 to 2004, and compared these results with the history of Alaska’s alcohol taxation policy.

Our drunk-driving accident attorneys at our firm think that anything that saves lives and curbs the amount of drunk-driving in our communities is a good thing.

The findings conclusively show that after the 1983 increase of the alcohol tax, a number of alcohol and alcohol-related wrongful deaths, including car accidents, fell by 29 percent.  A 2002 increase in the alcohol tax was followed by an 11 percent decrease in alcohol and alcohol-related deaths, especially those due to auto accidents.

Data taken from the study was compared with car accident statistics and data from other states that revealed that Alaska’s automobile driving population and number of alcohol consumers (and auto accidents) is relatively consistent with those of other states, and is therefore an accurate representation of the American population as a whole.

A reason that Alaska was chosen for this particular study is because no other state has increased its alcohol tax in 20 years as much as Alaska has done, in part to prevent DUI accidents.  In fact, several states including Wyoming and Maine, have not raised alcohol taxes in years, and currently have taxes that are not keeping up with the current rate of inflation.

This study, as well as a similar study conducted in Finland which revealed very similar results, has shed some light on a possible solution to the car accident alcohol problems that many Americans face, especially with the number of DUI and alcohol-related automobile accidents that occur each year.  While there is a great deal of opposition to initiatives and public pressure against lawmakers to increase alcohol taxes in many states as reminiscent of the Prohibition Era (where no one in America was allowed to consume alcohol from 1920 to 1933), doing so has already proven so save many lives.

Our firm’s drunk-driving accident attorneys handle many auto accident cases each year involving DUI car accidents and alcohol-related injuries that could have been prevented.  An increase in taxation on alcohol has the potential to prevent to act as accident prevention against auto accidents that do not have to occur, and save many lives in the process.

The DUI lawyers at our firm urge all people to never drink alcohol and drive (especially a teenage DUI automobile driver who could easily get into one and to never get in a motor vehicle with someone who has been drinking, because doing so could put you at risk for becoming involved in a serious auto accident.

Call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney and find out how we can help you.  We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case.  No fee if no recovery.