Ramifications of Drunk Driving

Casey Spence

Public Speaking

January 31, 2013

Persuasive Speech

Ramifications of Driving Drunk

I. "Girl, 12, Killed by Drunk Driver While Trick-or-Treating." On November 1, 2012, that was the headline of the Daily Mail, a newspaper from the United Kingdom.

A. The tragic thing about this though, is that the girl, Faith Monet Love, was in Las Vegas, Nevada.

B. Faith lived in Las Vegas and at the time of her death, and was out trick-or-treating with her aunt and cousins.

C. It is stories like this that travel throughout the world, tragedies that affect the hearts of those who hear them.

II. It would make sense to think that our country would have measures to try to prevent this, right?

A. Why would we allow people to knowingly drive while drunk, knowing full well that they could easily kill someone. Why don't we have laws and punishments to deter someone from committing these atrocities?

B. Well we do, they just aren't anywhere near as harsh as they should be.

C. As of right now, there are no federal drunk driving laws, they are left to the discretion of the different states.

D. As a result of this, they vary greatly. There is a federal standard of a 0.08 B.A.C. that sets a guideline for states, but there is no mandate to follow this, and many don't.

III. Statistics

A. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA), one-third of all people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.

B. Also, the NHTSA released a report stating that in 2011, there were 9,878 drunk driving deaths. That is one every 53 minutes. In the same report, they also stated that a person is injured every 90 seconds.

C. Think about that for a little bit. In the time it took to bake a pie, someone died because another person was drunk. In the time it takes to warm up a hot pocket, someone could be paralyzed.

D. In a report given out by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), there were over 112 million cases of drunk driving. That's a little too much to be safe don't you think?

E. Think about it, if there were 112 million drunk drivers, and all it takes is one driver to kill someone while they're drunk, that's 112 million opportunities for another person like Faith to have their life cut short by the actions of another person.

F. In 2010, there were 211 child deaths in vehicle related accidents. 131, 62%, were drunk driving related.

G. According to the NHTSA, almost half of all people arrested for drunk driving have committed the crime more than once.

H. Also, according to the Transportation Research Board, almost 75% of people accused of drunk driving continue to drive without a license.

IV. Different laws throughout the world.

A. In the United Arab Emirates, the penalty for driving drunk is a little more unorthodox than most countries. One man was sentenced to being whipped 80 times and an equivalent of a $7000 U.S. fine.

B. In Norway, the penalty is three weeks in jail at hard labor and one year loss of license. With a