Persuasive Speech Outline
Introduction
1. The legal drinking age of 21 has been a topic of discussion since it came out. It is a very controversial topic.
2. I found multiple sources for both sides of this argument. In favor of age 21, I found information written by William DeJong and an organization by the title of Choose Responsibly. Information I found against the age limit was written by Dr. Ruth Engs and an organization that goes by the NIAAA, which stands for National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
3. I also found sources that give simple facts, which I found as refreshing neutral parties. For information on the interstate system, I turned to Berkely University. I also received facts on Italy’s underage drinking problems …show more content…
Advocates for legal age 21 would agree with DeJong’s following facts: “Between 1982 and 2007, the rate of alcohol-related traffic fatalities for people ages 18 to 20 dropped 60 percent, whereas the rate for people ages 21 to 24 dropped only 44 percent. And an important point: the trend lines for these two groups began to diverge in 1988, by which time all 50 states had an age 21 law” (DeJong).
2. Though these facts do show positive change in drunk driving statistics, there were more factors coming into play during that time than just the legal age law. As Choose Responsibly explains, “four factors have combined powerfully (and dramatically more than Legal Age 21) to the decline of driving fatalities associated with alcohol: safer cars, higher awareness by drivers of all ages, greater utilization of a ‘designated driver,’ and more vigorous law enforcement” (Choose …show more content…
The Italian Government adopted a National Road Safety Plan (PNSS) in 2002 and set the target of a 40% reduction of road deaths by 2010. The target was then revised to take up the EU objective of 50% reduction. Italy only managed to cut road deaths between 2001-2009 by 43% with 4,050 deaths in 2009. However, the Italian government isn’t letting up the pressure. In fact, it approved in July 2010 a new legislation to tackle road risk. Stricter measures have been introduced to fight drunk driving which is still one of the main causes of death in Italy, and special attention has been dedicated to young and novice drivers (ETSC).
3. Italy has a legal drinking age of 16, which is lower than ours, but still ineffective as these statistics state. With their government specially targeting youth, they are missing the point. The proper solution to the drunk driving epidemic is to put emphasis on the actual drunk driving instead of the age, like the recommendations for the law originally intended. As Choose Responsibly stated, more vigorous law enforcement against all drunk drivers has greatly contributed to our success in lowering drunk driving
Introduction
1. The legal drinking age of 21 has been a topic of discussion since it came out. It is a very controversial topic.
2. I found multiple sources for both sides of this argument. In favor of age 21, I found information written by William DeJong and an organization by the title of Choose Responsibly. Information I found against the age limit was written by Dr. Ruth Engs and an organization that goes by the NIAAA, which stands for National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
3. I also found sources that give simple facts, which I found as refreshing neutral parties. For information on the interstate system, I turned to Berkely University. I also received facts on Italy’s underage drinking problems …show more content…
Advocates for legal age 21 would agree with DeJong’s following facts: “Between 1982 and 2007, the rate of alcohol-related traffic fatalities for people ages 18 to 20 dropped 60 percent, whereas the rate for people ages 21 to 24 dropped only 44 percent. And an important point: the trend lines for these two groups began to diverge in 1988, by which time all 50 states had an age 21 law” (DeJong).
2. Though these facts do show positive change in drunk driving statistics, there were more factors coming into play during that time than just the legal age law. As Choose Responsibly explains, “four factors have combined powerfully (and dramatically more than Legal Age 21) to the decline of driving fatalities associated with alcohol: safer cars, higher awareness by drivers of all ages, greater utilization of a ‘designated driver,’ and more vigorous law enforcement” (Choose …show more content…
The Italian Government adopted a National Road Safety Plan (PNSS) in 2002 and set the target of a 40% reduction of road deaths by 2010. The target was then revised to take up the EU objective of 50% reduction. Italy only managed to cut road deaths between 2001-2009 by 43% with 4,050 deaths in 2009. However, the Italian government isn’t letting up the pressure. In fact, it approved in July 2010 a new legislation to tackle road risk. Stricter measures have been introduced to fight drunk driving which is still one of the main causes of death in Italy, and special attention has been dedicated to young and novice drivers (ETSC).
3. Italy has a legal drinking age of 16, which is lower than ours, but still ineffective as these statistics state. With their government specially targeting youth, they are missing the point. The proper solution to the drunk driving epidemic is to put emphasis on the actual drunk driving instead of the age, like the recommendations for the law originally intended. As Choose Responsibly stated, more vigorous law enforcement against all drunk drivers has greatly contributed to our success in lowering drunk driving