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The alcohol-related crash rate for 19-year-olds dropped from 22 per 1,000 licensed drivers in 1985 to 5 in 2003, the latest year for which data is available, according to DOT figures. And when Wisconsin raised its minimum drinking age from 18 to 19 in 1984, the alcohol-related crash rate for 18-year-olds fell from 21 per 1,000 licensed drivers to 12. By 2003, that rate had dipped to 5 alcohol-related crashes per 1,000 licensed drivers.

These numbers are meaningless out of context. What happened to drivers of all ages over the same time frame, or more specifically, what are the rates for drivers who were just above the legal age? There is no doubt that drunken driving has dropped significantly for all drivers of the last several decades, without having all those stats, these mean nothing.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the drop in auto fatalities, but it seems these days kids are more responsible when it comes to making sure they have a designated driver. I know when I was in high school and college, I never gave getting behind the wheel drunk a single thought. Nether did anyone else I partied with. But today, my college age daughter and most of her friends never get behind the wheel after they've been partying. They either sleep where they are, or call. Kids are more comfortable calling home, I think, than back in our day.