What is impaired driving?  This is something we hear a lot these days, but what does it mean to me?  To me, impaired driving is driving when there are conditions in your life or substances in your body which alter your ability to think and/or react as you normally would.  This can come in many forms including substances (drugs, alcohol, including prescription medications), stress, fatigue, tiredness, phone usage (texting, using navigation, changing music and video calls), anger and even aggression. 

Impaired driving is misunderstood because people don't associate themselves with the situations that contribute to impaired driving.   We all think that we have better control over our bodies, emotions and situations than others do.  We think that "we can handle it"!  Someone who has a couple drinks feels they are still under control. They think because they don't feel "drunk" they're not impaired. The reality is their actions and thoughts are still delayed, which is an impairment.  Someone else who just worked a graveyard shift and is driving home may not consider themselves as impaired, just because they're tired.  Afterall, this is something they have to do every day.  The reality here is the same.  Their actions and thoughts are delayed due to being fatigued or tired.  They are impaired.  

There are many types of fatigue including alcohol, drugs, texting, fatigue, and even stress. Today, it seems that more and more people are more mindful about not driving while under the influence of alcohol.  However, I experience other impaired drivers all the time. Texting and driving has become a big issue.  Whether it's using navigation, changing music or texting friends and family.  Looking down for even one second can have huge impacts, literally.  I see people on their phones while driving all the time.  Another type of impairment I notice often while on the road is marijuana.  I often get the smell of it while I'm driving.  It's coming from the cars on the road around me and is concerning.  

I have friends or family who have been affected by impaired driving.  When my older brother was in high school, he had a friend who was hit and killed by a drunk driver.  His friend was coming home from a concert in Denver.  A drunk driver came down the highway exit the wrong direction and crashed into his friends car.  He was only 16.  My mom's cousin, Jennifer, was killed when she was also 16.  Jennifer was out on a date with her boyfriend.  Her boyfriend had been drinking.  They had realized that it was getting late and he needed to get her home before curfew.  While driving her home, he hit a patch of ice on the road and flipped his truck into the ditch.  She died instantly. One of my best friends was in an accident because she was texting while driving.  It was in town and she was going slow, so no one was seriously injured.  However, if it had been on a highway or faster road it could have been really bad.  My mom used to work graveyard shift and had to drive approximately 30 miles home after work.  She said she often dozed off for a second and woke up to her tires hitting the rivets on the side of the highway.   Knowing that she had started drifting off the road scared her so bad it made her adrenaline rush and woke her up, but only for a few minutes.  She said the next thing she knew she was drifting off again.  Luckily, she was not in an accident as a result of that.  It could have been so much worse!

Driver’s education and traffic school courses can help change attitudes and behaviors around impaired driving by sharing real-life experiences and situations with young drivers.  Awareness is a powerful tool. Real-life stories and situations are more impactful to help young drivers see that it can happen to everyday people and that there are many different types of impairment.  

The role I play in reducing impaired driving is to lead by example and make safe decisions?  If I feel impaired, my mom and I have an agreement that I can call her anytime, anyplace and she will come get me.  I can also help by encouraging my friends not to drive while impaired and refusing to ride with them if I don't feel safe.