My experience with impaired driving was not caused by alcohol consumption or drug usage, but rather fatigue and tiredness. Although neither I or the driver were injured, we were at risking at receiving harmful consequences. Around the age of 12, my siblings and I had taken a liking to going to work with our father. He was a long distance truck driver at the time. With five children constantly begging him to take them to work, my father resulted to creating a system. Once a month, we would take turns riding in his truck and going to work with him. This system prevailed and lasted especially into our summer. While being a long distance truck driver already required 3 days of work, summer had allowed him to take up longer hours. He would take on at least a week of driving. This particular summer was my turn to go riding with him. I imagined it to be great because I got to spend a week in his truck, eating junk food and having fun. It had been 3 days into the driving and everything seemed fine. He would park at truck stops for a quick nap, ensuring his safety and mines. It wasn't until the fourth day that things quickly went south. My father had been driving all morning, and was expecting to drive well into the night. Darkness had fallen upon us on a long strip of road with no other vehicle for miles. Trees enclosed us and the only semblance of life seemed to be the sounds of insects chirping outside the rolled down windows. It seemed we were driving for hours. It was then that I noticed the truck begin to lean towards the other half of road made for vehicles going in the opposite direction. My father caught on quickly, swerving us back into our intended lane. For the next twenty minutes, my eyes constantly darted to my father who seemed to be shaking of sleep and in an attempt to keep him awake, I did what most kids did. I grew curious and asked what seemed like a million questions about his life growing up. It worked for a while but he seemed increasingly tired. I was a bit scared. The truck was huge and although there was no other vehicle to ram into, I didn't want us to crash into the trees. It seemed my dad could sense my fear because he acknowleged his weariness. He informed me about the bumps on the road, waking him up, as intended, because of his tiredness. He instructed me to reach into his cooler and grab him an energy drink. I followed instructions and for the rest of the night we had no incidents. Everything seemed to have worked out but I still felt scared. My father was always driving in these conditions. I wondered what would happen if no one was there to help him stay awake. This experience changed my courage to get behind the wheel. Although at 17, I am yet to receive my license, that particular experience had shaped my awareness about the choices I make behind the wheel. For one, I never ask to go driving when I've immediately woken up for a nap. I also never ask others who have just woken up from sleep to go driving. Most of my safe habits stem from my mother who makes herself the designated driver when going to a function where she knows others might consume alcohol. While I'm not at the age to drink, and won't be for a while, I plan to make those same decisions.