Impaired driving to me means distracted driving, either by alcohol, drugs, a cell phone, or someone distracting your attention from the road. It is misunderstood by drivers who have completed their driver’s education or traffic school, as people only think it is substance abuse. Most people, when they talk about or, unfortunately, joke about impaired driving is relate it to substance abuse or alcohol. Types of impairment, such as alcohol, drugs, texting, or fatigue, can deeply affect drivers today. Common alcohol impairment just makes people dizzy and not in their senses to even walk or talk. I watch a lot of police body camera videos, and the way drivers slur their speech, walk, or even take the field sobriety tests shows how simple actions like that should let you drive, let alone in an empty parking lot. Fatigue is a great example of impaired driving. After a long day at the gym, you may feel like you do not want to drive yet you are forced because that was your commute, leading to extremely terrible situations for the driver themselves or others. Another common impairment is cell phone usage. I personally have experienced this. But cell phone usage during driving can cause a car to swerve uncontrollably, leading to the worst of the worst situations. This leads to the question: Have you ever experienced or heard a story that changed the way you think about impaired driving? How did it shape your awareness or influence the choices you make behind the wheel? I have personally used my phone while driving. One time on the way home, I was skipping my music, and I thought I had plenty of time to break. I looked up in a lick of time to thankfully brake hard before rear-ending a Tesla. Honestly, I think that because the newer Tesla has advanced sensors and cameras, it moved forward to prevent me from causing my parents and me a heck of a nightmare. This caused me to have my sister, my now appointed passenger DJ, play songs for me. From that day on, I ask my sister to skip the songs for me so I wouldn’t risk her and my life all because I did not enjoy listening to a song by Katy Perry. I now drive with enhanced awareness with watching out for impaired driving. If I see a car swerving into the shoulder, I back off a little more to give them some extra space. If I see a car passing me? Let me let them pass so I do not tick them off or cause an accident. It is better to stay humble than try to humble the tailgater. Driver’s education and traffic school courses help change attitudes and behaviours around impaired driving. Certain courses can have someone personally drive with you and explain to you the common things people do while driving, or even show you easy tips on how to drive, park, or merge. I took a one-on-one driver’s ed, and my instructor boosted my confidence driving after two days of lessons. He even showed me how to parallel park flawlessly in one day. One significant takeaway on how the programs are effective in real-world situations is parallel parking. I live in a city, so there is not much need to parallel park. When it comes to parking in the village of my hometown, I need to parallel park. Learning this can make you a better driver than literally most people you see on the road. A role I can personally play in preventing impaired driving is getting off my phone while driving. I will have to admit, I have texted and driven. I need to chuck my phone in my pocket or in my cup holder so I don’t have the temptation to look at it and see who texted me, or see who followed me on Instagram. I use my knowledge and training to influence others to make safer decisions. I show my sister, who is 15 at the moment, tips and tricks while I am driving. I point out how to correctly do an unprotected left turn by telling her not to turn the wheels or wait behind the stop line while someone else is in the intersection waiting to turn. I also show my sister how to properly drive in double lanes, so she won’t be a left lane loser in the future, hopefully. There are so many other examples I could think of, like traffic circles, following cars, headlight usage during weather conditions, or just the general maintenance of cars.