TU Tuesday

editorial piece that I chose: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Young-drivers-safety-2398131.php


Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence


After reading "Young Drivers' Safety", I felt persuaded because towards the end of the article I began to agree with the author's point of view. He states right in the first sentence of his piece what he feels is right, "Connecticut's laws restricting young drivers in various ways have proven effective and need to be preserved."  He doesn't beat around the bush but instead gets right to the point and I liked that about the piece, it was concise and accurate. He stuck right with the facts after that. Rattling one after another; "The number of crashes in which 16- or 17-year old drivers were identified as a contributing factor was down 28 percent in 2009, compared with 2007, the year before the law went into effect, according to statistics from the state Department of Motor Vehicles." and then, "State Rep. Tony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, is co-chairman of the Legislature's Transportation Committee, said he's willing to look at the laws in light of the inconvenience." and so on. I feel the author partly exaggerated the success of the new law, "But Guerrera hit the nail on the head when he said "facts show the death rate and the accident rate has drastically come down. How do you argue that? Even if it saves one life, it's worth it." He also exaggerated when saying, "Parents, obviously, are the first line of defense in making the restrictions effective -- and in protecting their children's well-being." He made it seem like  their was a huge number of casualties resulting from young teen driving. Yes there is a fairly large number, but it is not catastrophic. Just 6 months of maturity in teens is not going to solve the whole problem, some adults still drive like maniacs! So if he truly thinks that his one policy has solved everything, like he has implied, then I feel he is in the wrong and needs to rethink things. This is because although it may solve just a little portion of the problem, it will not resolve the whole thing. And the author made it seem like everything was all sunshine and rainbows now when...its still not.