As a teenage driver, one of the many things I fear most on the road is the ignorance of other drivers for my safety and even theirs. Every day when I go on social media, I see more and more car accidents happening each day due to the use of dangerous substances like drugs and alcohol. Lately, one of the most destructive and common ways of car accidents is texting and driving. As someone who is on the road every day, when I go to work, school or home, I fear that one day I'll have an accident while I'm on the road due to someone else's careless and unsafe actions that could risk both of our lives. 

           When I think about impaired driving, I think about a person on the road who is under no circumstance, able to drive, whether that is from being drunk, high, or simply distracted, but as I read more, I learn that it's more than just those two things that can affect the drivers attentiveness to the road. Even drivers who have completed driver’s education can forget that there are other factors that can still cause severe car accidents. They can result  from being overwhelmingly too tired or sleepy to pay attention to the road. As well as answering a “quick” text or changing a song all while still driving at the same time. These factors make us take our eyes off the road and cause crashes, even if we look away for just a second or two. When teens take driving courses, most only care about passing the test and getting that drivers license rather than actually learning about the importance of driving safely. It causes them to forget how it can gradually affect their lives, not just them but the families that are gradually affected as well.

         Some of these impairments can include speed driving; exceeding the speed limit causes drivers to not have enough time to react to changes in the road, resulting in a tragic crash. Unfortunately, more than 12,000 deaths happen each year due to speeding. Another impairment is the abuse of alcohol and drugs. When taking these substances, you can get symptoms like nausea and vomiting, headaches, making driving a difficult task. It can cause the driver to maintain focus and cause them to swerve and miss lights or traffic signs on the road.  Another important factor that can cause an accident is the usage of cell phones. As we look at our cell phones, it can result in us to miss traffic signs such as stop signs or red lights too . Using a cell phone can also cause us to miss break times and risk bumping into the car in front us. I personally have been in this situation when the guy behind me was using his phone and did not break on time, which resulted in him hitting the back of my car while having my family in the car with me . If one doesn't decide to be responsible while on the road it can harm others’ lives and even take the life of someone.

         Recently I saw an accident on the news about a truck driver who was on drugs who caused an accident and resulted in the death of 3 people on the freeway. More and more accidents like these are happening each year. It breaks my heart that the ignorance of others is causing the lives of others and their families. In order to decrease or prevent more accidents from happening there should be improvements to the driving courses. We can make them up to date since many are still outdated with old videos and lessons. There could also be more lessons on the dangerous driving impairments with students' personal oaths and informative writings to really emphasize the importance of it. Which would help students be more aware of it as well. 
          I personally can play a role in preventing more accidents by alerting those around me of the dangers of driving while using a cell phone and being under the influence. I can also remind those who will be attending a party to plan ahead on how they will get home safely .

         As a teen driver it's important for me to spread the news about the dangers of impairment driving. I know I have a bright future ahead of me in which I worked hard. I would hate to lose all of that hard work by a single person who put little thought into their decisions on the road.