Thread: Drunk Driving Speech

Originally Posted by Cheekz185

OK well my new speech for my speech class is on drunk driving. In the speech we have to list the "problems" for our topic. Here are the problems of drunk driving:
A. According to a 2002 report by Patrick D. Quinlan, of the over 159 million alcohol-impaired driving trips reported by Americans in 2002, over 44 percent, or 71 million trips, were made by moderate drinkers.
B. Approximately 18 million Americans — 8.5 percent of the population meets the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism.
C. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. (NHTSA, 2001)
D. In 2002, 2.3% of Americans 18 and older reported alcohol-impaired driving compared with only 2.1% in 1997. (Quinlan, et al, 2005)


Our next step is to "Prove each aspect of the problems raised" Either a testimony or statistics or what not. My question is how would i prove each aspect to the problems i listed. Can someone help me out.....

I agree with gbh. These are stats, not problems.

Also, how are you going to prove this? I presume that Mr. Quinlan already proved these stats by using a statistically sound methodology to arrive at the results of his report. If he did, you don't need to prove them.

What you need to do is draw some conclusions and state these as problems. For example:

"The incidence of alchohol-impaired driving is on the rise." Proof: The Quinlan report states that since 1997, the number of Americans reporting alchohol-impaired driving rose .2%

"The majority of alchohol impaired trips are performed by light drinkers." Proof" Quinlan report that only 44% of alchohol-impaired trips were made by moderate drinkers.

And so forth. The conclusion is that alchohol-impaired driving is on the rise and not just by moderate/heavy drinkers but by light drinkers, blah, blah, blah.

Originally Posted by Cheekz185

Also, Can Anybody help me out what triggers people to drink and drive? Like why do they do it? For example stress, problems with someone

In 2 words: poor judgement.

I've never met anybody who said (and meant) anything along like, "I'm gonna get drunk, get in my car, and see if I can avoid the pedestrians downtown!"

Poor judgement combined with inexperience (for lack of a better word) and/or simple ignorance. Poor judgement about how 'out of it' they really are, poor judgement when someone tells them that they shouldn't drive, poor judgement of when to say when.

One night I was out drinking with 2 friends, and we all got in the car together. We'd all had about the same amount to drink and I knew that I couldn't drive ... I mean I blacked out that night. Unfortunately I was so far gone that I didn't make the connection that the guys I was with might be as bad off as me after we'd all gone drink-for-drink for 6 hours straight. He drove for a stupid reason too: none of us wanted to bother anybody for a ride home. Bottom line is that my judgement had gone to **** and I believed the one guy when he said he was ok to drive, and then we spent 5 minutes looking for his car which was right across the street.

I look back at that night and realize that we were insanely lucky that we didn't get caught or worse, get in an accident. 2 years later and us 3 still go drinking together but now we 1) don't drink nearly as much, and 2) we always designate a driver; it's my turn next, and the place we go also has a huge selection of beer and a bunch of them are N/A, perfect for not getting drunk.

I realize I'm preaching to the choir here, but don't do what I did. It's not worth the chance of killing somebody.

Originally Posted by HHdesign

Drinking seems rebelious and gives you the satisifaction of socking it to the big man.

That'll show him!

These are some interesting statistics about people with alcohol problems. When we talk about drunk driving things get even worse: you don't only harm yourself but you also play with other people's lives. This also stands for driving under the influence of other drugs. We need to better control these numbers because each number is about a human life.

Originally Posted by kim32

These are some interesting statistics about people with alcohol problems. When we talk about drunk driving things get even worse: you don't only harm yourself but you also play with other people's lives. This also stands for driving under the influence of other drugs. We need to better control these numbers because each number is about a human life.

Way to bring back a thres from 11-08-2005.
The first post was asking for help with a speech for a class.... I bet he already delivered his speech

On a serious note, I have been hit by drunks several times, lucky for me i am still here.