To me, impaired driving means driving under conditions of incomplete consciousness and mental acuity. This can mean driving drunk or high, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be biological. Someone crying or angry, or in a similar state of mental distress, is also impaired, because their ability to perceive the road around them and make quick decisions is hindered by the emotions clouding their mind. Many drivers seem not to understand that the ability to drive is not a yes or no matter, dependent solely on whether one possesses a valid driver’s license. Rather, it is a gradient; no one is ever omnisciently aware of their surroundings like some superhuman, but even the most experienced drivers are rendered unsuitable for driving under particular circumstances that weaken their ability to watch the road.

The most common form of impaired driving today is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, probably due to the prevalence of drinking and substance abuse in American society. The impact of drugs and alcohol on driving ability is profound. Particularly at smaller doses, its effects are quiet and conspicuous, creating in drinkers and substance abusers an ill-advised sense of confidence, as though the amount they took is hardly enough to impair them. The truth, however, is that after only roughly one drink an hour, the liver reaches its capacity, and the blood alcohol content (BAC) level begins rising, which is where the consequences kick in; drinking inhibits the brain’s communication pathways, limiting one’s judgment, fine motor skills, and thinking speed. The effects are similar for certain kinds of drugs, though others can make you overly excited, which is also dangerous. On a road—where large mounds of steel are moving at fast speeds—a driver needs to be able to calmly monitor the situation, which becomes unfeasible when the brain cannot function properly.

In Driver’s Ed, we watched a video where several former drunk drivers were interviewed regarding incidents where they had accidentally killed fellow drivers or pedestrians, including children. One of the stories that notably impacted me was that of a young man who had crashed into an Amish family riding in a horse-drawn carriage, killing everyone. I distinctly remember the empty look in his eyes as he recounted this story. Seeing someone only a couple of years older than me having to live the rest of his life with the knowledge that that one mistake had such terrible consequences was a sombre reminder to me that driving is a serious responsibility and every decision regarding it matters.

I think more driver’s education and traffic school courses should incorporate into their curricula videos similar to the one I watched. It’s one thing to have to listen to boring listings of abstract statistics and the same repetitive reminders of the dangers of drunk driving, which unfortunately more often than not fall on deaf ears, but it is another thing entirely to see personally the genuinely tragic impacts these decisions have on other people’s lives. By making the lessons more personal and tangible, a deeper mark is left on the student’s heart, which will hopefully impress on them the importance of safe driving. Another thing these programmes can do to tackle this issue more aggressively is to ensure the quality of their lessons. Unfortunately, from my own experience and that of my peers, I know that many driver’s education schools tend to be rather amateur, not accurately tracking attendance and having outdated presentations with obsolete information. The result is that students mentally check out, seeing driver’s ed as simply another tedious step in the path to attaining a license, when in reality it is extremely important. Driving programmes should take more proactive steps to ensure student engagement and presentation quality.

There are several things I and others can do to prevent impaired driving, the most obvious being to simply not do it myself. Every societal change starts small, and you cannot preach safe driving to others while not practising it yourself. Another, larger-scale role one can play in society is that of a good friend. Reminding your friends to avoid impaired driving, booking cabs or driving them personally if necessary, is of paramount importance. Sometimes, words are insufficient, and a good friend needs to take executive action to ensure that their peers are not making reckless decisions under compromised circumstances. It is similarly important to demonstrate generally your disapproval of impaired driving. If the subject arises in a conversation, and others seem to view it lightheartedly or dismissively, explaining the dangers and potentially mentioning horror stories such as the one aforementioned is an effective means of culturally stigmatising a terrible practice.