Alcohol Advertising and Motor Vehicle Fatalities

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to estimate empirically the effect of alcohol advertising on motor vehicle fatalities. The data indicate that if a ban on broadcast alcohol advertising did not also include bans on other types of alcohol marketing, the effect on motor vehicle fatalities might be in the range of 2000 to 3000 lives saved per year. The data also indicate that the elimination of the tax deductibility of alcohol advertising could reduce alcohol advertising by about 15%, reduce motor vehicle fatalities by about 1300 deaths per year, and raise about $300 million a year in new tax revenue.