Driving has always represented independence to me. The moment I got my license in July, I felt like I had entered a new stage of life, where I was responsible not just for myself, but for the people around me. But with that sense of freedom comes a level of responsibility that I don’t think most young drivers fully understand right away. To me, impaired driving means driving in any state of mind where your ability to make safe decisions is limited. The thing is, a lot of people only think “impaired” means drunk. But impairment can come from so many places: distractions, texting, drugs, being exhausted, or even thinking “I’m fine” when you’re really not. We all can experience it even if we are not under the influence, such as being upset with someone and it's happened to me where I begin to press on the pedal more than I should but i always come back to my senses and remember im charge of my not only my life but the people surrounding me as well, and that’s why I believe impaired driving is often misunderstood. Even people who have taken driver’s education don’t always recognize when they are not in the right state to drive, or they assume “it won’t happen to me.”

The two types of impairment I see most often today are drinking and texting while driving, especially among teenage drivers who are in my age group. There is this culture around “I’m good” or “I didn’t have that much” that makes people feel invincible, as if nothing could go wrong. I’ve seen people go out, drink, and still casually grab their keys like nothing is wrong. It’s almost treated as normal or brushed off with a “I just had two drinks, nothing will happen to me”, something people brush off because they don’t want to admit they’re impaired. And then there is texting and social media, which is probably even more common. It only takes one second of looking down to miss a light changing, a car stopping, or someone crossing the road. The phone has become one of the biggest distractions, and honestly, I think many people underestimate how dangerous it truly is. Your brain can’t focus on two important things at once. You may think you can, but you really can’t.

I remember one night, watching someone I knew get into the driver’s seat after drinking. They said they were fine, that it was just “a couple.” I wasn’t in the car with them, but I saw the way they moved and talked, and I knew they shouldn’t be driving. I remember the uneasy feeling in my stomach. I tried to get them to stay and was reassured that I could take them home, but no matter what I or others said, it was as if it were an ego thing where they wanted to prove they could drive drunk and that nothing would happen. As they left, I was just hoping they made it home safely. I made sure to have their location and stayed on call until they got home safely. Thankfully, nothing bad happened that time. But that moment stuck with me because it wasn’t dramatic. There was no shouting, no fight, no huge crash to wake everyone up. It was quiet. Normal. And that’s what scared me. It reminded me that impaired driving rarely looks like the extreme stories we hear about. Most of the time, it looks like an everyday person making a quick decision that could change their life or someone else’s forever.

Since I started driving, I’ve realized how much responsibility comes with being behind the wheel. I’m a cautious person by nature. I like feeling in control, and I like knowing I’m doing the right thing. When I’m driving, I try to keep that mindset at the front of everything I do. I don’t text, I don’t play around with my phone, and I don’t drive when I feel tired or overwhelmed. It’s not because I’m scared of getting a ticket. It’s because I understand that driving is dangerous even for people who do everything right. I don’t want to add extra risks. I don’t want to put myself, my passengers, or anyone else on the road in danger. Especially when others are not mindful of their surroundings, i just want to be the most cautious that I can be because a car can suddenly switch lanes without them putting on the signal and can easily endanger my life.

Driver’s education and traffic safety courses can help change how people think about impaired driving, but the key is that they need to feel real. It’s one thing to memorize facts and statistics for a test. It’s another thing to actually understand that every time you get into a car, you are responsible for other people’s lives. I think the most effective parts of driver’s education happen when students hear personal stories, see real examples, and recognize that accidents don’t just happen in movies or news articles. They happen to regular people. They happen on roads we drive every day. I began taking classes with them when I was 16 at Cazares Driving School, and it had a big impact on me and helped me get the guidance and understand the importance of not texting while driving and always to look both ways, no matter what.

Personally, I know I have a role in preventing impaired driving, even if I can’t control what everyone else does. I can speak up when someone tries to drive after drinking. I can offer rides. I can refuse to get in the car with someone who isn’t in the right state to drive. I can lead by example and show that being a safe driver is something to be proud of, not something to joke about. Even small choices make a difference. One conversation might stop a friend from making a decision they regret.

Driving is a privilege, not something we are owed. And being a safe driver isn’t just about following rules; it’s about caring about yourself and others. I believe that if more people approached driving with that mindset, fewer families would be changed forever by one moment. If I can help make even a small difference, then that will be something I carry with me every time I sit behind the wheel.