Impaired driving to me means someone who is under some type of influence, or is having delayed reactions, and is unable to be fully aware of the roads to drive safely. It’s misunderstood because most people, even driving instructors, believe it only pertains to being impaired by Alcohol or drugs. Some drivers also underestimate how “a little” alcohol, tiredness, or phone use can still impair them. Even after driver’s ed or traffic school, people may forget the risks or assume the rules don’t apply to them. 

The most common types of impairments today are alcohol use, drug use like marijuana and prescription drugs, as well as other distractions like texting, calling, and overall phone usage, and driving while tired. Alcohol and drugs slow reaction time, affect coordination, and make it harder to judge speed or distance. Texting takes your eyes, hands, and focus off the road, significantly increasing your crash risk. Fatigue causes slower thinking, drifting out of lanes, and even “microsleep,” all of which lead to unsafe driving behaviour. Statistics show that “A 2024 study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimated that 17.6% of all fatal crashes from 2017-2021 (30,000 fatalities over the five years) involved a drowsy driver. That's 10 times higher than the reported number.”

I don’t have any experience with impaired driving myself, but I’ve heard many stories. Like the story my aunt told me of how she got into a car accident and totaled her car and had to go to the hospital and get surgery because she fell asleep behind the wheel, she didn’t even realize that she had fallen asleep until she woke up in the hospital, lights not knowing what had happened. Her story shows how crashes caused by someone who thought they were “just a little tired” or “only looked at their phone for a second.” And hearing how quickly that one decision to not pull over and take a quick nap, to just put the phone down, or to call an Uber instead of driving under the influence drastically changed their lives. Stories like that raise awareness by showing that impairment isn’t always dramatic; it can be something people think is harmless. These stories influence safer choices by reminding drivers that even one risky moment can have lifelong consequences.

Driver’s education and traffic school can change attitudes by showing the real consequences of impaired driving through videos, statistics, and real-life stories. By doing this during driving school, it will help drivers understand the number of fatalities that impaired and reckless driving has. Having people who have been in car accidents that they’ve caused, as well as people who were victims of impaired drivers. They also teach specific skills, like recognising impairment and knowing when to refuse to drive or ride with someone unsafe. These programs are effective because they combine facts with emotional impact, which helps lessons stick. In real-world situations, this awareness encourages drivers to make safer choices before they ever start the car. People don’t truly understand the consequences of impaired driving until they experience them, so making sure people can see what some of the consequences are will stop them from being reckless on the road.

I can play the role of getting people together to share their stories to show and tell people that that split second where you think it’s okay to check your phone isnt worth it, or driving home under the influence because you dont think your that intoxicated is worth it and that if your exhausted its not worth it to try and stay up and make it home and to just pull over and take a quick nap so that in any of these situations the driver isn’t not only endangering themselves but the other people on the road wether that’s the other people in the car or people on the sidewalks or crossing the streets. By getting people to share their anecdotes, it will show people that it’s not worth it, and distractions on the road truly are very dangerous, and they can drastically change people’s lives in a split second. With my knowledge on this topic and my skills of advocacy and organizing, I will be able to get the people together so that they can share their anecdotes. As well as advocating to get this type of stuff added to the driving school curricula so that it is something that all new drivers will have to learn, and getting it added to the programs that people have to take once they have been ordered to by the courts, so that they truly understand what could happen.