“Did you hear who passed away?” The question that shattered my world. I had just arrived home from work moments before these words hit me like a tidal wave. I sat alone on the couch, roughly 9:47pm, June 28, 2024, my phone in my hand as my eyes swelled with tears. The news of an old friend passing away cut through my night like a butcher with an old cleaver. I could not believe what my friends and family had been telling me. One of the people I used to be close with, someone I had many experiences with, someone I grew up with, was now gone. “How did he pass?” was the only thing I could ask in this moment, the only words that could slip out of my mouth as I sobbed uncontrollably. “A car accident,” they told me.

Impaired driving to me is not only the things that would give someone a DUI. Impaired driving is more than being drunk or high, but it is any form of being distracted. This could be, playing music too loud, having friends playing around in the back seat, texting while driving, or even being tired while you’re driving. This is not a common understanding of what impairment is other drivers because these are things that we see every day. This not only sends mixed messages about what impaired driving is, but it misconstrues what is acceptable driving practices are. To me, impairment is preventable.

Most commonly seeing people under the influence of alcohol and texting are the main forms of impairment seen in day-to-day life. Drinking while driving or before driving has taken several lives. When intoxicated in that capacity, mental processes such as vision and cognition become delayed. Driving is a very cognitive activity, having your eyes on the road and paying attention to not only yourself, but everything around you can be a difficult process. Having any amount of alcohol in one’s body, makes these cognitive processes much more difficult. The same can be said for texting while driving, taking your attention away from the road in any form can inhibits the process of safe driving. Although many people argue that texting only takes your eyes off the road for a few seconds, what they don’t realize is that in those few seconds, something unexpected could happen. To me, all forms of impairment are equal if they take your focus away, with or without drugs or alcohol. 

As mentioned previously, I have lost someone due to impaired driving. The friend I lost was a great one of many. His birthday was the day before; the celebration of living is now the celebration of his life. During the accident, it was reported that he was not driving, but a family member of his. They were being kids, freshly nineteen years old, having fun. But one moment of distraction changed everything, not only for him but for me as well. Shortly after his passing, I was in an accident myself, this time due to the weather, but ever since then my outlook on safe driving has become overwhelming. When I or other are driving, I have become hypervigilant and nervous. Constantly trying to make sure that there are no distractions, the roads are clear, and nothing will make my trip unsafe. Outside of being vigilant, I am alert.  Looking for signs of distracting young drivers’ text and talking while driving.  Distracted driving kills the young as well as the old!

Drivers’ education and traffic school are great preventative tactics that can inform people and youth about impaired driving. These programs not only provide information about safe driving and what measures should and shouldn’t be taken; they also give people the opportunity to have experiences. For majority of these institutes, the trainee is given an opportunity to be behind the wheel and experience driving with minimal risk. By letting people learn this way they will be better prepared for what to do in the real world.

 By being a relatively new driver myself, I would strongly advocate for taking drivers education courses. While I took my courses I was able to learn a lot about impaired driving and why it is important to not do so. I remember a module that told a story of a college student who was intoxicated and was driving. Unfortunately, he was in an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. This alone made it clear to me how important it was to not be impaired while driving. I personally could not imagine that it would be like to have my life changed in the blink of an eye. Personally, I can not only enforce safer driving for myself, but for my peers as well. By making sure I am safe and my friends are safe, we can carry that message and make the roads a bit less scary. Without drivers ed, this message might not have been as clear to me. Learning from someone else's experiences helped me not have one of my own.

 

It is a shame that distracted driving has taken so many precious lives. But by doing these few simple things and reducing distractions in the car and teaching about dangerous driving habits, the amount of distracted driving can be reduced. Nobody wants to lose a close friend or a loved one, especially if it could have been prevented. We cannot bring back the people we’ve lost, but we can fight to keep others safe. If young drivers are more aware of how to drive safely the roads will be a safer place.  
 
I will always advocate for safe driving and safe habits. Hopefully by implementing these preventative tactics amongst young drivers not only will they know to drive safe, but they will spread the message to others. Though these are just small steps in the process of increasing safe driving and decreasing distracted driving, they are steps and hopefully these steps can lead to a fully realized plan to be safer.