Decreasing Alcohol-Related Highway Fatalities

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If you want to decrease the number of highway deaths for teens and young adults there needs to be stricter control of alcohol use and abuse.

According to a report in the Journal Pediatrics, the stronger a state's collection of alcohol policies -- relating to alcohol taxes, alcohol availability and hours of sales, and age of driver licensing -- the lower the likelihood of young people dying in an alcohol-related crash.

More restrictive alcohol policies were associated with fewer fatalities among both drivers and passengers, regardless of sex. When it comes to preventing young people from dying in crashes involving alcohol, alcohol-control policies are clearly critical.

Another issue that needs further discussion is controlling the abuse of alcohol on college campuses and attempts to reverse the culture of alcohol abuse on many campuses.