I have heard countless stories about how parents or siblings lost a family member because they got hit by a drunk driver. Friends losing their friends because their driver was driving high. And even stories about truck drivers running cars off the road because they fell asleep at the wheel. To me, impaired driving seems like something that could be so easily avoided and shouldn’t have to be something that you should have to stress over when you get behind the wheel. However, it can be very misunderstood to be seen as just driving while drunk or high. But in a lot of cases, it is simply things that are distracting you from paying attention to the road. For example, texting while driving, being sleepy, or having distracting passengers are all things that can impair your driving and lead to an accident.

              I think one of the most common types of impairment is texting or doing other things like makeup, hair, or chatting with passengers, but texting being the main one. Every time I drive, I always see people next to me on the phone texting, changing their music, or just scrolling through social media. This impairs their driving because now they are no longer paying attention to the road, the speed they’re going, the traffic signals, etc. However, drunk driving has been taking drivers' lives for much longer. Driving drunk has been known to impair vision, slow reaction time, impair judgment, etc. This especially impairs behavior because it can make you more irrational and take more risks.

              One of my friends from church had a son who rode a motorcycle, and one day I got an email from my church saying that he had died because he had been hit by a drunk driver. While I didn’t know the son, I was friends with his dad, and it broke my heart to see how broken he was that his son got taken like that. doesn’t just affect the lives of the people in the accident; it affects everyone around and everyone who knows someone in the incident. That incident made me more conscious and aware of when I'm not paying attention when I'm driving. It also reminds me that I never want to be the cause of someone losing their life or a loved one, so I need to always be aware when I'm behind the wheel.

              I also remember when I was younger and I was watching TV with my mom, and she turned on the news. There was a huge pile-up on the highway, and some people died, and some people were hospitalized. I remember being really scared to go places after that, and it made me want not to get my driver's license when I got older. It really stuck with me; I even failed my first permit test on purpose because I didn’t want to be on the roads. But once I got my permit and then license, I knew that I could be part of the solution instead of trying to avoid it altogether. So, I educated myself on the matter and made sure that the people around me were educated as well. I then made sure that when I went driving, I took all the safety measures that were required.

               These courses bring a lot more awareness and educate people in the subject because not many people are very aware that there are many ways that you can be impaired behind the wheel. They also bring some seriousness to the matter because some younger drivers don’t take it very seriously. So I think these courses help them understand the serious consequences of driving impaired. These courses help you to create muscle memory for safe driving habits and develop good decision-making skills. These courses also educate you on traffic laws and some driving techniques for handling different driving situations and conditions.

              I can make sure that I help educate others on all that impaired driving is, as well as making sure that I don’t contribute to the problem and become an impaired driver. For the most part, everyone wants to be safe, so I can lead by example and show others what safe driving looks like so that they, in turn, make safer decisions on the road. Because no one should be scared when they go driving and wonder whether they are going to encounter someone who is impaired. So we should all do our part and educate ourselves, and make sure we keep each other accountable.