It is disheartening that the president of one of the most prestigious institutions in this country would spew forth such propaganda. The NHTSA makes this claim, but it is contradicted by studies that actually look at the data instead of just the big number. Yes,

While it is true that traffic fatalities have gone down, there are many other factors such as dramatic improvements in automobile safety that probably have had a lot more to do with that than the drinking age.

Additionally, when looking at each state instead of just the whole country, it becomes clear that in many states that raised their drinking ages later on, there was no statistically significant reduction in traffic deaths. Further, in almost every case where states did have improvements, the gains were lost a year or two after the change.

DC was one of the last states to raise its drinking age, and logically, you would expect it to be one of the places where people can drink without the need to drive. It's a city and it's easy to get around without a car.

If anything, making drinking illegal for college students here could force them to drink off-campus and out of town, at house parties, potentially putting them in their cars. How this is better than allowing them to walk down the street and legally drink at a bar, I cannot fathom.