Raising the Driving Age to 21

(1) My first contention is talking about the peer preasure. At our high school, the day before Prom we had an assembly showing the students the negativity that can come from peer preasure. It started by showing 3 girls who were drunk and the guy in the scene did not want to give them the keys, but they insisted! So he did. As the assembly went on, we later saw how the cars were crashed for drinking and driving and although they were all injured (including the ones from the other car) the one that died was the guy who didn't drink! Later, his mom showed up and so did alot of the police and so on. The school spent a lot of money on this to tell our students to be safe, but at the assembly, many students were laughing. This shows how many don't care! (2) My second contention was about the status quo. In Germany you will find that many don't even own a car! Why? because they would rather walk or take public transportation. What about here in Oregon? Here in Oregon you take a walk aroun a neighborhood and you will see most of the houses with even more than one car! In France, it's the same thing. In france people go out for walks more than they drive. In many places in Mexico, people are too poor to even buy food. They don't have cars there. People walk and when they walk it's long distance! When going to Mexico, you will never find someone who is obese. Seeing how in Oregon there's a lot of fast food places, it is best that people walk more than take their car. Cars are also bad for the environment. The opponent can say that there's "environmentally healthy" cars, but how many people use them? Not even half of them. I know we're not Mexico, Germany, or France. I am just simply showing what other countries do and what we can do too. (3) My third contention is about responsibily. Many can say that not every teen is irresposible, but there's rules for a reason. Responsibilty has a lot to do with driving. Let's say 17 year old is having fun after a basketball game and is racing with another teenager, each in their own car. Both chasing eachother. What seemed as catious fun ended in tragedy. One of them is now dead and three are injured in the hospital. Why did this happen? Because they were not being responsible. By simply not paying attention to the road, you can crash. It's very important that you are responsible when driving because this is not going to effect you and your family, but someone else and their family too. It is much better to be safe than sorry and for wanting to be cool around your friends, many teenagers will not act responsibly and/or safe. Onto what my opponents has said. My opponent states that if you get a car at 16 it will be old when you turn 21. Although that may be true, it should be obvious for the future owner of any car that if the driving age is 21 why bother buying a car at 16? The car should not be bought at 16 to be left in the garage. That's why you would buy it when you turn 21. For those who plan on having a sweet sixteen, you can still get a car, you just won't drive it. Think of it as having a cheaffeur. Just sit back and enjoy the view. You can roll the window down so people still see you in your amazing new 6 door Hummer or whatever fancy car you decide to get. If the driving age was 21, you won't have to worry about being the only 16 year old who can't drive because others won't either. The opponent also states that there is a "Bike to work day". That may be true, but how many people actually do that? Unfortunately not many. That is why increasing the driving age will put less people in the road. Less people on the road will actually benefit our environment as the opponents say. Seeing how the opponent states that the environment is very important, then the opponent must agree that having less people drive will benefit our environment thus agreeing with the affirmation. The opponent also states that if the driver is too cautious, the driver is not being safe? !? Safety is always first and when the driver is being cautious, the driver will be aware of their surrounding and avoid a crash and/or accident. As the opponent states that a mature driver will often get over confident. I strongly disagree. It does not make sense that a mature driver will get over confident and crash. Being mature is being fully develop in mind the way a 22 year old can be. Saying a mature driver is likely to get in a crash is like saying a smart student is going to fail a test. Situations such as the opponent has stated are just not likely at all. Also, the quote " A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense " is another way that shows the negativity and dangers to young drivers. The only reason a tree should defend themselves is from a teenage driver who is not yet resposible enough to drive. A young life is important and raising the driving age to 21 can decrease the deaths in young teenage drivers. Think about the worried parents waiting for their teenager to get home. Seeing how the opponent has failed to state an alternative or give their three main contentions and also contradicting themselves and agreeing with the affirmation. I continue to urge a strong vote for the affirmation of the resolution. Thank you.