To me, impaired driving is when an individual is driving while some factor is compromising their attention. Drivers may misunderstand this term because it doesn’t just include gross negligence like being drunk or high at the wheel. It also includes being under the influence of fatigue, prescription medications, and distracting devices. This misunderstanding can be harmful because it normalizes actions that can still make driving equally as dangerous. Regardless of your state of mind, every driver is responsible for keeping others safe on the road.

I believe that the most common type of impairment today is texting. In my own experience (not while driving), even trying to text and walk through my school’s hallways or text while trying to listen is very difficult. This effect is then upscaled by 4,000 pounds and 30 miles per hour, making it incredibly dangerous to everyone around. It’s not uncommon for me to be in a car and to turn and see another driver on their phone, only periodically glancing at the road. My observations can only account for so much though since I cannot see how many people are driving impaired from fatigue, alcohol, or drugs.

In 2023, a typical school day of mine had ended—the only difference was that I would be heading to watch my high school’s soccer team play in a huge game across the city. I’m very used to needing rides from other people. Unfortunately, relying on other teenagers who feel untouchable as a means of transportation comes with many drawbacks. I asked my brother and his friends for a ride. He tells me, “Sorry! I don’t have enough space in my car.” So I ask someone else, a player on the soccer team, if she can take me. She accepted me, and right off the bat there was not a moment she didn’t have a phone in her hand. There was stop-and-go traffic because it was rush hour on a narrow, busy street in the city. The driver was doing a mix of texting, looking at GPS, and looking for songs to play. Eventually the multi-tasking caught up to her. A car slowed down in front of us, and, distracted, our driver didn’t stop in time and rear-ended the car. Thankfully it was a 15 to 20 mile per hour collision. Our driver was completely panicked, an ambulance showed up just in case, and our trip to the soccer game was entirely halted. I really got the full experience of what a major accident could look like, except there was little damage and no injuries. The collision influenced me on how sensitive we all are to impaired driving and that we’re much better off without it.

Based on the world I see around me, I believe that mistakes are the only true teacher when it comes to the dangers of driving. However, that can be problematic in itself. Students in a driver’s education program should be told early on what the statistics, causes, and consequences of impaired driving are, but word of mouth can only be so convincing. In my experience in driver’s education, there were two major things that influenced myself and others about their responsibilities on the road: understanding the law and seeing real-world consequences of impaired driving. Knowing that driving while intoxicated in my state can lead to up to 15 years in jail will make someone much more apprehensive before doing so. Also, giving driver’s ed students the opportunity to judge offenders for their wrong-doing allows the student to know better before putting themselves into the same situation. Seeing real-world consequences of impaired driving through recent news articles and hearing about it through first-hand accounts will make drivers aware of the damage they can really do. 73% of drivers believe they are better than average (AAA, 2018). Once seeing what driving while impaired can do to these same overconfident drivers, other drivers will become more considerate before doing the same.

As a high school student who spends time with many other teenage drivers, it can be difficult to convince them that texting and driving or driving recklessly is a bad idea. The first thing I can do is lead by example. Instead of making my peers’ impaired driving a laughing matter, I encourage myself and others not to drive with them. Doing this can keep a few people around me safe, as well as reinforce the stigma around impaired driving. The consequences of impaired driving, such as jail time and crashes, are ugly. In an attempt to influence my peers I tell them: