The rate of alcohol-related traffic crashes involving 18- and 19-year-olds rose after New Zealand lowered its drinking age from 20 to 18, Newswire reported May 8.

Researchers at Massey University found that the alcohol-related crash rate among these older teens fell to 93 per 100,000 drivers in 1999, the year that lawmakers voted to lower the drinking age to 18. By 2003, the alcohol-related crash rate among drivers ages 18-19 had risen to 144 per 100,000.

Rates of disorderly conduct and drunk driving also have increased, according to researcher Taisia Huckle of the school's Center for Social and Health Outcomes.

Huckle was updating research originally published in the February 2006 issue of the journal Addiction.