Persuasive Speech On Lowering The Driving Age

Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience will agree that the legal driving age should be changed to 18 years of age.
Introduction
I. The driving age should be raised to 18; people at the age of 16 are too young to handle the responsibility of driving a car.
II. “The risk of crash involvement per mile driven among 16-19 year olds is 4 times the risk among older drivers.” (highwaysafety.org)
III. “Risk is highest at age 16-17. In fact, the crash rate per mile driven is almost 3 times as high among 16 year olds as it is among 18-19 year olds.” (highwaysafety.org)
Central Idea (Thesis): Please consider raising the driving age so that our youth of today will be safe and will be responsible when we do hand them the keys to
their cars.
Body
I.
We have the statistics, now we need the explanation.
A. “Crash rates are high largely because of young drivers immaturity combined with driving inexperience.” (Road Injury Prevention & Litigation Journal)
B. “The immaturity is apparent when we look at their driving practices such as speeding, street races, and tailgating.” (Road Injury Prevention & Litigation Journal)
C. These young people are easily distracted; they don’t know how to handle small emergencies or driving hazards.
II. This is serious and these young drivers aren’t doing it alone.
A. “Drivers ages 16-19 have significantly higher crash rates compared with older drivers, and traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in that age group.” (TranSafety, Inc.)
1. I have picture of high school license plates.
2. My classmate is paralyzed from a car accident.
B. “They are more likely to have 3 or more passengers in their car primarily other teenagers.” (TranSafety, Inc.)
Natalie Hall
Persuasive
Speech
C. These kids make driving errors, and they have others in the cars that are just as inexperienced as they are.
III. These 16 year olds aren’t physically ready to drive.
A. “These teens have under-developed motor skills which cause them to react more slowly than people a few years older.” (Silver Chips Online)
B.
“If the driving age were raised to 18, the judgment and decision-making skills of new drivers would be more developed, and the drivers would probably be less likely to engage in risky behavior, resulting in fewer accidents.” (Silver Chips Online)
C. “Teenagers are easily distracted, and are typically influenced by peer pressure. These facts, in addition to overactive emotions, other stresses, and teens’ feelings of invincibility often result in risky behavior.” (Silver Chips Online)
IV. The death rates in this age group are startling.
A. “In the year 2000 6,495 people between the ages of 15 and 20 were killed in motor vehicle crashes-the leading cause of death for this age group.” (National Safety Council Fact Sheet)
B. They are involved in fatal traffic crashes at over twice the rate as the rest of the population. (National Safety Council Fact Sheet)
C. The father of a deceased 15 year old victim of a car crash stated, “We’re playing Russian roulette with our teen-agers, when we hand them the keys to the car, we’re putting a bullet in the chamber and spinning.” (dailynews.net)
Conclusion
I. Please consider raising the driving age.
A. These are children; they are not even legal adults yet, they are
not responsible enough to be in charge of a car or of others lives.
B. We hold the ability to change the world, and keep the youth of today safe.
II. If you would petition for raising the driving age to 18, we could save the lives of so many amazing young people.