Why You Shouldn't Drink and Drive

Attenion-Catching Remarks: Every person is accountable for his or her own "right to drink". Failure to treat this or any "right" responsibly has consequences. The person's "right" can and should be taken away when the failure to act responsibly endangers other. Thesis: Today I would like to talk to you about the problems of drinking and driving, and why it is a concern for all of us. Main Point I: I'd like to start off by talking about the penalties of drinking and driving. Did you know that drunk driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent crime? A chronic drunk driver is a person who has driven over 1,000 times before being caught. They do not respond to social pressures, law enforcement, and the messages that have been combined to reform the drinking and driving behavior of our society. Given the highly disproportionate role that these people play in drunk driving incidents, injuries, and fatalities, it would be wise to put our focus on them. The chronic drunk drivers comprise only a small percentage of all the drivers, yet they cause the most accidents. Studies have found that 21 to 34 year olds make up approximately half of all the drunk drivers that are in alcohol-related fatal accidents. They are also responsible for more fatal accidents than any other age group, and seem to have the highest blood alcohol content. This is where the biggest problem is, considering that they are resistant to change their drinking patterns and behavior. About a third of all drivers arrested for DWI's are repeat offenders according to data gathered in 13 states. Every single injury and death caused by a drunk driver is totally preventable. Know your limit! If you are not sure what your limit is experiment at home with a responsible person. Most people find that they can drink about one drink per hour without any ill effects. It is illegal for a bar or restaurant to serve an intoxicated person in all but four states. Nearly three out of four (about 72%) of the driving age think that penalties for drinking and driving should be more severe, and half of those think much more severe. On November 7, 2000 Montana residents will have the opportunity to vote on the DUI Inititative No. 135. In Section 1 makes it unlawful for licensed establishments to sell to a restricted person - under alcohol licensing laws. Section 2 provides a civil liability as well as criminal liability for any person providing alcohol to a person restricted from purchasing, possessing, or consuming alcohol. Individuals in their own homes, medical, and religious uses are excluded. Section 3 provides administrative action to be taken upon a licensed establishment violating the terms of licensing. Section 5 will make it illegal to buy alcohol if restricted; and last, Section 7 provides that the punishment for a conviction of a drinking and driving violation shall include an alcohol restriction, with the restriction noted on the person's license. When you go to vote, vote yes on Inititative No. 135. Montana is 1 of the 22 states that does not have an open container law and is also one of the few states that does not revoke the drivers license of the person who is convicted of a DUI. Research shows that 75 percent of those with suspended licenses will drive illegally, depending on the length of the sentence. A disturbing phenomenon is that many of these individuals are not choosing to have their license renewed once their sentences have been completed; the typical jail sentence for most drunk drivers is two to three days and, "this amount of non-driving time does not have much impact in terms of drinking and driving." Additionally, jail time removes people from their every day lives and people can lose their jobs and the support of family members. In short, everything familiar that could serve as support is taken away. Research shows that after they are released, convicted drunk drivers are just as likely to commit additional offenses as are offenders who are not jailed. Approximately 79% of legally drunk drivers have blood alcohol contents greater than .15 and 52% exceed .20, 99% of people who are of driving age consider drunk drivers a threat to themselves and their families. Main Point II: Next I would like to talk about accidents and the potential dangers there are with drunk drivers on the road. I would like to start out by telling you a story that is written by Kathleen Buenemann, Donette's mother. On the night of August 8th, 1996, after finishing her shift at work, Donette was on her way home. A 29-year-old female left the "beer garden" at the county fair, around 11 PM. This girl had been there most of the night drinking. She managed to avoid the police and found her way through town in her Mercedes. Just outside of the city limits of town, she crossed the centerline and sideswiped a Jeep, the full length, and proceeded on across the line and hit my daughter's '95 Neon, nearly head-on. My daughter's car was spun around and flipped on the drivers side and slid down and embankment, and came to a rest. A 3rd car drove through the point of impact and was untouched. The 4th car was hit by the debris from my daughter's car, but no injuries there. My daughter had tried to move to the shoulder, but the other car continued on to hit her. Donette had her seat belt on and the air bags did deploy, but because of where the impact was the steering wheel went between the front seats so fast that the bag was of no use. Donette's head struck the A post and then the pavement when the car turned on its side. They said she died instantly of massive head injuries and never felt any pain. I still wonder and have nightmares about this. Our daughter lay in her car, dead, while they attended to the drunk. Her dad was on his way home from work an hour later, on the same road and was detoured around the crash onto another road, not knowing it was Donette. He hadn't been home very long when we got the horrible knock on the door that forever rings in my head. The shock, the screaming, and the pain when your heart has been torn to shreds. Trying to make sense of it all, trying to find out where she is and that you can't go to her immediately, because she has been taken to a strange, cold morgue. The next hardest thing I've had to do outside of burying my daughter was to read the medical reports. How do you continue on knowing that her life drained from her ears, and that every major organ in her body was dislodged. The beautiful child, a gift from God, that you created, taken from