Don’t Take the Chance 

Driving, one of the most exciting things about growing up. As a kid, many grow up anticipating the day you can get your own license. Every year, millions upon millions of teens take a Drivers Course, take a Driving Exam, and receive their license. Each one, filled with joy as they now have a sense of freedom, a sense of starting a new journey, exploring the world. Yet, in the blink of an eye, it can all be gone. Don’t take the chance. See, to me impaired driving is the act of driving or taking the wheel of a vehicle, while being under the influence of something that has effects on your senses; including alcohol, drugs, fatigue, distractions or even heavy medicine you may have taken for a particular reason. It is often misunderstood, even by the most experienced drivers, because we as humans believe it may never happen to us. Humans don’t like to think of the negative things in life. Many don’t understand that just because you are driving impaired, does not always mean driving under illegal substances or alcohol. 

When I was growing up, I had an uncle who had trouble with the very things that sometimes we take for granted. My uncle has spent most of his life experiencing severe seizures, due to scar tissue near his brain. It has severely affected his daily life from how he speaks to sleeping at night. I remember as a kid seeing a seizure for the first time, wondering why this was happening to him, and if there was any way, I could ever help him. I could never understand, yet when I grew old, I finally learned the story. See, as my uncle was growing up, he was described as very intelligent and wanted to pursue a future in becoming a doctor. He worked hard and had good grades and was towards the top of his high school class, yet this would all change due to the choice of one person taking the chance. There had been a party later in his high school career. It was a large gathering, and some had access to alcohol. It was a night where many had yet again, believed that nothing bad could ever happen. After leaving this party, my uncle and 2 other friends were driving along. In a single cab truck, with 3 seats across, my uncle sat in the middle. Unfortunately, the driver had been impaired; he struck a guardrail, along with other objects, sending my uncle into the windshield headfirst. The result was traumatizing. My uncle would go on to have seizures, going through various surgeries and experiments to hopefully find a cure or a way to stop his seizures, and return to somewhat of how his life once was. Though this would affect him for the rest of his life, his determination has seeked through as I have seen him push to become better over time. While I was not around when this accident had happened, I still see the consequences of it to this day. It’s a reminder that we are not guaranteed tomorrow, and that it is not worth the risk. Whether you need to text someone, or someone has had too much to drink, or even if you are just tired, it is always better to stop. Don’t take the chance. Seeing my uncle and his story has pushed me to become a much safer driver and made me push for those around me to be safe drivers and to not take the risk. It has pushed me to realize when others around me are not in good condition to drive and put a stop at risk, even if they are just tired. It has shown me that we cannot take life for granted, and that impaired driving has the ability to have consequences we will see forever. Many will think that it could never happen to them until it happens to them, but by then they may suffer the consequences of such actions. Don’t take the chance. 

In today’s world, the most common types of impaired driving are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, and distracted driving. Distracted driving is slightly more common for teens as nowadays we have cell phones, and infotainment centers in vehicles where users can use Apply CarPlay or Android Auto to access their phone on a screen in the vehicle. Regardless, both are very dangerous as they require users to take their eyes off the road. Even taking your eyes off the road for a second can have disastrous consequences. It takes away a key sense of driving, your sight, without it you wouldn’t be able to tell where you are headed. You may not realize it but taking your eyes off the road even just to skip a song can have consequences that last a lifetime. If someone decides to take that chance, the consequences can be unfortunate. These common types of impaired driving are becoming all too normalized, yet again the same human mindset is presented. Many people believe that it will never happen to them. Don’t take the chance.  
This leads us to wonder what can help this increasingly worrying problem across the world? The answer is rather simple. Drivers' education and Traffic School Courses. With an increased education in impaired driving, I fully believe that we would see a large deduction in impaired driving. These courses allow participants to see what impaired driving actually looks like, meaning not just drunk driving but also things like driving while tired or under heavy medication or being on your phone. It changes the meaning of impaired driving, to where more drivers can relate to in their daily lives, especially with the issue of being on cell phones while driving, instead of the assumption that it is about driving under the influence. This allows the audience to relate in a sense, and seeing the consequences of these actions, it will push many people to change their ways and introduce safer driving techniques.  

I personally can play a role in changing these ways too. Putting phones away and paying more attention to the road and what is ahead is very important. Understanding when someone should or should not drive is also very important, as you can stop them from possibly harming themselves or others. My knowledge or training can influence others by me practicing and advising others on how we can all improve driving and being safer drivers. I can enforce the idea to my peers that it is not about getting to a place on time all the time but rather getting there safe and sound. My role in this is to become better and help others understand that impaired driving isn’t always illegal substances like we see all the time, sometimes it's the very things that we don’t even realize we are doing. We must all work together and become better as a community, so don’t take the chance.