Every time I practice my driving skills, with the competent lectures of my dad, I always think of the danger that would happen if I were to lose control of the wheel. Since I was very young, I was warned about the dangers that there is to driving; maybe that is why I feel some uncertainty when it comes to driving. However, I admit that those worries always compelled me to be focused at all times, not letting myself get distracted. After all, I stand by the idea that driving is no game. I still remember some of the stories that my mom would tell me about, one of her cousins’ ants that got her arm ripped off after being too close to a speeding car, but those stories were the kind of stories to which I was skeptical about and aren’t the ones that awakened my consideration and awareness of impaired driving. 

Thankfully, I’ve never been near death when it comes to car accidents, but I do recall one event in which my mother, two of my siblings and a friend were crossing the street, no cars around, we decided to cross. I, who was following behind, got to witness the event that could have ended in a catastrophe- a small grey car that was speeding made a L turn, using the small space that there was between my four companions and the other side of the street as a path. 

“Wait wait wait wait!” My mom said repeatedly as she did her best to extend her arms and walk backwards in a way that would make the three little girls behind her go back.

I, who hadn’t even left the other side of the sidewalk, stood there perplexed at what had happened; all four of us were frozen, looking at the speeding car that was getting exponentially smaller. That is one of the most recent memories I have about driving, an accident that might or might not have been impaired, but it still marked me, and perhaps stayed with me as one of the events that formed my uneasy personality when it comes to driving.

For me, Impaired driving is terror, or an opportunity to cause another casualty. Many people don’t understand the escalation of such effects in drivers, even drivers who have completed driver’s education or traffic school. Sometimes, the most confident people in their field tend to underestimate the dangers of impaired driving. People might think that impaired driving may only be caused by alcohol consumption or the consumption of illicit substances, but it can also be caused by fatigue or other factors in the well-being of drivers not related to illegal acts. Those are the things that people tend to overlook.

It is safe to assume that alcohol driving is the most common impairment among drivers today, considering that 32% of driving fatalities nationwide were caused by a driver with a BAC of 0.08% or higher, according to a study performed by UC Berkeley on 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Alcohol Impaired and Alcohol-Involved Driving. It is no secret that being alcoholized can affect driving ability. According to the study made by Michigan Medicine University, How Alcohol Impairs Your Ability to Drive, being under the influence of alcohol can slow your reaction time, impair your judgment, reduce your ability to concentrate and more. Thanks to all of these factors, it is a fact that driving while drunk can end up being unsafe. 

Impaired driving is the cause of many casualties; however, it is preventable. A driver’s education and traffic school courses help change attitudes and behaviours around impaired driving. Awareness of dangers in drivers can help people consider the risk and will help them be more cautious on making driving decisions, similar to what happened to me ever since that accident. The awareness of how dangerous driving can be if you’re under impairment and how your decisions can end up affecting you and other people's lives can make you be more responsible the next time you're about to drive. It will make you consider if you’re actually fit to drive, or maybe ask a reliable friend to do it for you. 

Some people might think that one can’t do much about the automobile accidents that happen around them. But they’re wrong. Even if you're not a doctor, a policeman, an influencer or other person whose specialism is to prevent human accidents, normal people can raise awareness. Every little story or knowledge about the dangers of impaired driving can make a difference if one can share those stories. That’s something that everyone can do, even me. So remember, the next time you're out with a friend, don’t be afraid to tell your stories to raise awareness, and if you see that the driver is not in the proper condition to be driving, don’t be afraid to take the wheel; that is, if you have a driver's license, of course.