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Irish Kiernan
Speech to Inform
COMM 1010-043
April 9, 2012
Audience and Occasion Analysis:
SPECIFIC GOAL: My audience will understand the importance of not to drive while drinking.
SPEAKER ETHOS: This has affected my family twice in the last five years, along with many friends
and the community I am from.
PATTERN OF ORGANIZATION: I am using a cause-effect pattern to demonstrate how drinking
and driving can impact a person’s life.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS: Most college students are of drinking age or about to become of age,
making it easier to get alcohol. I would like students to have a better understanding of how much, and
how often drinking and driving occurs and who is at risk.
OCCASION ANALYSIS: Students in the college setting are a suitable audience for this topic. A
projector is available, so I’ll be creating a PowerPoint to help support my topic and make it easier for
students to follow along. I will include large print and keep my words to a minimum so the audience can
see in the back and also be able to listen to my speech.
Speech Outline:
Introduction
Purpose: After hearing this speech, students will consider the effects of drinking and driving and look
for alternative ways to drink responsible.
Hook: Who really pays the price…..will it be someone you love?
Ethos: In 2005 I was injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. In 2010 my son’s dad was killed
in a drinking and driving accident. Then just this September my niece and nephews lost their dad to the
same thing. In the news every day you can find an article related to drinking and driving.
Thesis: Drinking and driving increases the chances of being involved in an automobile accident.
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Preview: I will discuss the statics of drinking and driving.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
How often it happens.
What it says about the average drunk driver.
What can happen if you’re the one drinking and driving
MADD
Who is at risk?
(Transition) I would like to start with the surprising statics of how often a person can be involved in an
alcohol-related accident.
Body
I.
Did you know that according to the MADD website:
 This year, 10,839 people will die in drunk-driving crashes-1 every 50 minutes.
 Every minute, 1 person is injured from an alcohol-related crash.
 1 in 3 people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime.
So if you look around the room and count how many people are here and divide that by three
that will show you just how many people in this room will become a static.
(Transition) I would like you to take a moment and think about whom you are sharing the roads with?
II.
Again looking at the statics from the MADD website I found that:
 An average drunk driver has driven drunk 87 times before first arrest.
 70% of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities involved a driver with a BAC level of.15 or
higher.
 50 to 75% of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license.
 Our children share the road with an estimated 2 million drivers who have had three
or more prior drunk driving offenses.
(Transition) In 2009 Utah was ranked number 1 for the lowest number of deaths involving alcohol
related car accidents according to the MADD website. While Utah is fairly low it still is at a 24% which
equals 40 deaths. But even one person that is killed because of alcohol is one to many
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III.
Some facts to know before you drink and drive:
 Utah DUI Laws: Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Limits and Implied Consent
(www.findlaw.com)
 "Per Se" BAC Limit 0.08 Percent
 Zero Tolerance (Underage) BAC Limit 0.02 Percent
 Enhanced Penalty (Aggravated) BAC Limit 0.16 Percent
 Implied Consent to Submit to BAC Test? Yes
In Utah you can be charged with a DUI even if your blood alcohol level is below the state limit. New
laws state that you can be charged for driving while under the influence and/or driving while over the
legal limit. You can find this information on the dmv.org website.
 Thanks to the public safety website we can see how much one drink is compared to the BAC and
its impairment. One drink equals a 12 oz. beer or wine cooler, a 5 oz. glass of wine, or 1.5 oz. of
80 proof distilled spirits (straight or in a mixed drink).
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.00% Only Safe Level!
.01-.03% Impairment begins
.04-.07% Reflexes, vision, judgment, and concentration affected. Combined with fatigue,
illness, stress, other drugs, or poor driving conditions increase risk of crash.
.08-.11% Illegal in Utah. Greater levels of impairment in all the above. Average risk of
crash is 6 to 10 times normal.
.12-.15% Motor skills, mental functions, and vision are severely impaired
.16% + Extreme crash risk! Unconscious at .25-.35%. Death will occur at about .35-.45%
(A handout of the chart is available to show what your own BAC would be)
 Utah DUI Laws: Select Penalties (www.findlaw.com)
 Minimum License Suspension or Revocation (1st, 2nd, 3rd offense) 120 days, 2
years, 2 years
 Mandatory Alcohol Education, Assessment and Treatment Both
 Vehicle Confiscation Possible? Yes
 Ignition Interlock Device Possible? Yes
(Transition) Utah passed legislation requiring interlocks for all offenders in 2009, helping to decrease the
number of drinking and driving accidents. MADD has helped such laws pass.
IV.
MADD- Mothers Against Drunk Driving has helped many victims:
 MADD helps a victim or survivor of drunk driving every 10 minutes.
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
MADD has saved 27,000 young lives through passage of groundbreaking public
health laws.
MADD was started by a mother who lost her child to a drinking and driving accident. Their campaign is
to educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving. If you would like to sign the campaign or
want more information please go to http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/campaign/
(Transition)Who pays the price…?
V.
Slide of Victims
A friend…a family member…or you.
In 2010 my family was shattered by an ATV accident that included a drunk
driver. My sons father was only 33 and on a hunting trip. Some people think
that drinking and driving only includes cars/trucks but anytime anyone gets
behind the wheel of anything while driving it can and will become deadly.
Conclusion:
In conclusion drinking and driving is on a much larger scale then we can even imagine. There
are things that each one of us can do.
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Drink responsible
Don’t encourage underage drinking
Have a DD (Designated Driver)
Take the keys from people you love
Report all drunk drivers
Make a pledge to yourself to not even have one drink and then drive.
I have…will you??
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Work Cited
Utah Department of Public Safety. Utah Driver License Division - Salt Lake. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://publicsafety.utah.gov/dld/bac.html>.
"MADD -Drunk Driving." MADD -Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/>.
"Utah DUI & DWI Laws & Enforcement at DMV.org: The Unofficial DMV Guide." DMV.org: The
Unofficial DMV Guide. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. <http://www.dmv.org/ut-utah/automotivelaw/dui.php>.
"Utah DUI Laws - FindLaw." DUI - DWI Law Center - DUI / DWI Law. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
<http://dui.findlaw.com/dui/state-dui-law/utah-dui-law.html>.