Imagine you are a single mom to twin girls and you are getting ready to take them to school. It's a sunny day, everyone is happy, and you're excited about the day you have planned. You help buckle them in their car seats and you guys are on your way. After hugging your girls goodbye, you decide to go home. Later, you decide to run a few errands before it is time to pick them up. You're cruising along the street when suddenly, a car slams into yours, making your car spin right into a pole. In a desperate attempt to avoid the pole, you tried slamming your foot on the break, causing your ankle on your dominant foot to shatter completely. This unfortunate tragedy is exactly what happened to my mom when I was only a little girl.
  My mom was unfortunately struck by a drunk driver while I was at school, unaware of anything going on. She was rushed to the hospital where they determined that her whole ankle on her right foot was shattered. Thankfully, she had no other serious or life threatening injuries. To help repair some of the damage done by the driver, my mom had undergone surgery and got a large metal rod placed in her foot to help hold the bone pieces together. She also had to wear a boot on her foot and was wheelchair bound. Doctors told her that the likelihood of her ever walking again was low. Miraculously, my mom has since made a recovery. While she still faces sensitivity in her ankle from the cold and can not do strenuous activities such as running or jumping for long periods of time, she is mobile and otherwise normal. The driver who struck my mom was never caught and never served time for the pain he has caused my mom and my family. 
  Being an impaired driver means you decide to drive while you are not 100% capable of safely doing so. It is a very selfish and inconsiderate act as nothing is ever worth getting on the road when you know you are an active threat to those around you. When a driver is impaired, they pose a major safety risk to themselves, their passengers in the car, the random man using the crosswalk to get to his favorite grocery store, or the newly licensed teenager driving excitedly beside them to her favorite restaurant to celebrate with friends on this new accomplishment. Many people attribute impaired driving to just drugs or alcohol. However, there are more factors than can cause you to be impaired that many people may not have considered before. Different things can impair a driver, such as drinking too much alcohol during a night out, being tired after a long day at work, getting distracted because you got a text that your Amazon package has arrived, or taking cold medicine that can make you fatigued. All these conditions can affect a person's ability to drive safely as you are not 100% alert and focused on the road. Impaired driving can be misunderstood even by those taking a driving course due to the under representation of these risks. However, the risks are still there and can 100% be avoided.
  Being in kindergarten watching my mom try to recover from such a tragic accident was disheartening. I am grateful everyday that my mom is still alive and that she has made a miraculous recovery despite the odds being against her. With that being said, I feel that driver's ed courses are very effective as you can hear real life stories from other individuals whose lives have been affected by impaired drivers. I personally will never get behind the wheel if I am not 100% focused and comfortable enough to be able to get to my destination. I will also encourage friends and family to do the same because you never know when something like this can happen to you. There are way too many alternatives to get to a destination without being a threat to others on the road such as appointing a friend to stay sober and be the designated driver for the night or taking an Uber or a Lyft back home. If you were at a close friend's or relative's house, maybe they would even let you spend the night. Next time you decide to drive when you aren't feeling like yourself, think about the irreversible damage you can do to yourself or others. You only get one life, and no amount of false confidence while impaired is worth the safety of others.