To me, impaired driving is recklessly risking the lives of others due to intentional distractions. The concept of impaired driving is misunderstood because the consequences are never fully learned. People do not understand the implications of driving impaired or even the definition. Upon hearing the phrase, people will automatically think of driving drunk and swerving all over the place. While that is included under the umbrella, it is not the whole picture. It is also driving while texting your friend back for a second, or getting behind the wheel exhausted after not sleeping. This point is missed by many who are currently in driver’s education and can be even further misconstrued by those who have been driving for decades.  In driver’s education, I feel most programs are not as intensive as they need to be. The severity of consequences caused by impaired driving is not discussed or shown to the extent it should. When I took my driver’s education course, videos of accidents and the dangers of driving under the influence were taught and played, but no one in class was paying attention. Everyone was on their phone or device, uninterested in what was being shown. In addition to that, the instructor also seemed disinterested. Driver’s education classes are seen as an obstacle in getting a license, not as a learning opportunity. The general idea is to push through and pass the exam, not to obtain any information. This is a main contributor to the passive attitude people have about impaired driving. I would say alcohol, drugs, texting, and fatigue are all equally common and happen frequently. All four keep a driver unaware of their surroundings with their attention elsewhere and their consciousness slipping. A unique perspective I have on this topic is from my time working as an outside order taker at the Chick-fil-A drive-thru. As cars pulled up, I would often see drivers looking down at their phones while maneuvering through the parking lot. In even worse cases, I have seen drivers with their phones propped up playing movies and TV shows. It was truly unsettling knowing that people are so addicted to their phones that it interferes with their driving in such a drastic way. Another factor I see that adds to impaired driving is social attitudes towards it. Online, I have seen many people make jokes about driving drunk or high or filming themselves while driving. If people continually see an unconcerned attitude toward such a fatal activity, the social attitude will shift, and people will take the offense less seriously. People believe that they are invincible or often have an “It won't happen to me” mentality. Just sending a quick text or driving after a few drinks seems easy due to a person’s self-perceived ‘immortality’ while being behind the wheel. Although no one story or experience regarding impaired driving has stuck with me, I’ve heard many stories of the lives lost to impaired driving. The friends and family never forget them and constantly share their memories, hoping their loved ones will be remembered. An unfortunately widely covered story was the 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash in Mount Pleasant, New York. According to Wikipedia, eight lives were claimed at the hands of a drunk driver driving down the wrong side of the parkway. This is just one example of the thousands of deaths that occur in the US every year due to impaired driving. Hearing about how many people become victims of impaired driving is extremely devastating. All the lives permanently changed will never be easier to digest. I feel the driver’s education needs to have an additional class explaining impaired driving and the consequences. Enforcing this will truly bring this issue to the driver’s faces and set in stone the importance of driving sober and undistracted. I also believe the fines and legal consequences following impaired driving need to be increased and made more serious. If people see offenders receive no repercussions for their actions, the respect for the law will decrease. On the other hand, if people driving impaired receive a more intense punishment, it will deter people from doing so. A role I can play in preventing impaired driving is joining groups that spread awareness through fundraising and social media. Making the statistics and facts more prevalent to the public can shift attitudes and show how damaging impaired driving can be. It will take many voices from the public and the government for the attitudes toward impaired driving to change and improve. Many wheels and cogs need to be engaged in the conversation and execution of safer driving knowledge.