by Cheryl Ursin

About the author: Cheryl Ursin is a contributing editor to Beverage Dynamics, a prominent beverage industry trade magazine.

“Working together, we’ve made enormous progress in reducing drunk driving in America,” said President Clinton in a [fall 1999] radio address. “Last year, the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes hit a record low; and young people killed in alcohol-related crashes fell to the lowest rate ever recorded.”

The latest data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that alcohol-related fatalities in car crashes declined by 33% in the 10-year period between 1988 and 1998.

Meanwhile, according to a 1999 survey by the Department of Health & Human Services, the percentage of teenagers, ages 12 to 17, who reported having had a drink in the previous month was 45% lower in 1998 than...