English 12: Impaired Driving - Persuasive Essay Example

As most of us know, operating a motor vehicle while impaired is never an intelligent decision. When someone drives under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, they can cause issues that affect Canadian's nation-wide. The financial cost of accidents, fatalities, and traumatic injuries are three reasons why impaired driving is a terrible idea. Firstly, the costs of accidents caused by impaired drivers are staggering. The deaths, injuries, and property damages of these accidents all present a substantial amount of cost to Canadians. In a study conducted by MADD (Mother's Against Drunk Driving), during the years 1999 to 2008 there were a total of 2,050,132 impaired driving accidents. The total cost of these accidents was an estimated $205.3 billion. That is approximately $6,221 per Canadian. Broken down annually, the estimated cost to Canadians is $20.53 billion, or approximately $622 per person per year. Besides the cost, fatalities are a massive issue when it comes to driving under the influences. Young people seem to--often--be the ones making the poor decision to drive impaired. According to a study conducted in 2006, among drivers killed, 38.2% of 16-19 year old drivers and 45.4% of 20-25 year old drivers were drunk and/or on drugs. In 1999 to 2008, there was a total of 12,100 impaired driving crashes causing death. Annually, that averages to 1,210 deaths per year. That means there are 1,210 families that lose a parent, child, or other relative every year in Canada. However, not everyone involved in alcohol and/or drug related crashes ends up dying. In 2008, there were approximately 68,538 people injured due to impaired driving. Some of these injuries can be traumatic and life changing. For example, one of the most famous stories of someone receiving life altering injuries caused by impaired driving is the story of the once beautiful Jacqueline “Jacqui” Saburido. The night was September 19, 1999, near Austin, Texas. Jacqueline and four of her friends were