First comes the crash. Then the sound of skidding tires. The feeling of broken glass and dents along the car body. The seatbelt cutting into your skin, sirens wailing in the distance. Your own heartbeat, and breath entering and exiting your body as your mind swells with adrenalin, fear, and consciousness of what has just happened. And the person who hit you? Has run off. “Oh my god this is my worst nightmare come true.” 

Impaired driving is defined as operating a vehicle under the influence. Whether it be drunk driving, drugged driving or drowsy driving any time someone gets into a car not feeling one hundred percent it can be considered impaired. And god forbid get into an accident, those factors are all to blame. In today’s society most people are taught the dangers of reckless driving and how it can ruin not only someone else's life but your own. A DUI charge can result in up to six months in prison and not to mention all of the difficulties one faces with criminal charges on their records. Yet people still naively believe that they can outsmart the substance's effect. Is it stupidity? Or just human nature to prove that we can be the best, even under the influence. The way I see it is people think, “oh i only had (insert number of drinks) I’ll be fine to drive!” “I only smoked one blunt like 3 hours ago it’s totally worn off by now” or “The redbull finally hit my system, I’ll be good to drive another few hours till the next rest stop." and then get behind the wheel. However, what they don’t know is that these substances stay in your system for long periods of time and while you may think they have run its course, you would be sorely mistaken. I think it’s a subconscious need to be quote on quote fine. Like they have something to prove by driving; even with knowing the risks of being impaired. It's the craving of being self sufficient and maybe trying to spare some embarrassment from having another person drive you home. That’s why people make these poor choices and drive impaired. 

Today, and especially among the teenage world, the two biggest factors that I’ve seen of impaired driving are texting and alcohol abuse. Everyone texts. It's a fact of our rapidly growing world. Yet It’s consuming people. It’s literally like watching a Dementor suck the soul from someone as they type a message with laser focus. So when the dopamine is triggered by the sound of a ding on your phone, your brain is wired to stay in anticipation till you read it. This contributes to unsafe driving because people are constantly checking their phones. And to type a message takes lots of focus too. I can’t even spell words correctly if I'm just sitting down but trying to do it while driving, it’ll sound like a bunch of gibberish. And while there are features like voice to text, those features don’t always capture your word accurately, leading people to have to use their hands and eyes to text. While being focused on a phone, drivers often miss red lights which can lead to a T-bone, a pedestrian crossings, or merge into other lanes causing cars to swerve around them creating more chaos. Texting in general is distracting but while driving it takes away your most important feature: focus. Along with texting I feel that alcohol especially amongst teens is a high contributor to impaired driving. Most people in high school will party or drink casually with friends. It’s the thrill of doing illegal activities and the feeling of alcohol hitting your system and numbing your mind for the first time. But what I have seen happen is that teens will get drunk, wait a few hours, and then drive home thinking that the alcohol has left their body. This is dangerous for a number of reasons. One: drunk driving, even if someone feels fine they could not be which leads to a host of unsavory consequences. Two: Brain function and agility. Alcohol affects main parts of the brain but one part is the frontal lobe which controls decision making, impulses and judgment. All three of these are necessary in driving and determining how to act on the road. Whether another car runs a light, a person steps out into the road or even just deciding if you can make it through a yellow light, these senses are dulled and can lead drivers to make irrational decisions on the road endangering the lives of everyone around them. Mix this with the already impulse seeking brain of a teenager and all caution goes out the window. Both of these are prominent examples of what is truly distracting people today and what causes most accidents on the roads. 

Personally I have always been taught not to ever drink and drive. And if I had drank too much, there would be people around who could help me get home safely without the fear of being in trouble. However in my senior year of high school there was a group of people I knew who were experimenting more and more with drinking. And I’m not here to judge because teenagers are always going to find a way to party but what scared me was their behavior change after they started throwing these parties more often. And after I heard that a boy was trying to drive home and only one of his friends stopped him, I got very concerned. Hearing stories like this and seeing the progression first hand scared me a lot. I was never a big partier in high school but when I would drink it was always with a smaller group of people I trusted and knew they had my best interest in mind. To hear that only one person stood in between possible life and death for this boy stunned me and truly made me think of how reckless people can be. There I vowed to myself that not only would I not get behind the wheel impaired but I would also look out for others because people sometimes don’t know their limits. Whether that is calling them a uber, sending them home with a sober friend or even physically walking them home I would never want anyone to be in a position where wanting to have fun was their cause of death. 

Along with that I think more teenagers need to be educated on the science behind impaired driving. What is actually happening in our minds that makes us want to take our hands off the wheel and answer a text or put our hands on the wheel when were “feeling fine” We have been told don’t text and drive, don't drink and drive, and never get behind the wheel when you feel extremely tired but never told why. If more driving instructions took the time to explain to new drivers what is actually going on inside their bodies when they get distracted I think more people will take impaired driving seriously. This will be effective in the real world because people wouldn’t have an excuse as to why they thought driving was a good idea. If everyone is taught the severe impacts that impaired driving has on your body it could create a more well rounded picture of the very real dangers the road brings and how being impaired heightens them immensly.

As I start my college career I think there are a number of ways I can help impaired driving.  The first would be to educate my friends on the dangers of it and telling them that under no circumstance is it ok to get behind the wheel with a substance in the body, fatigued or to text while on the road. The last thing a teen wants to be is an outcast or different so if their peers start expressing good driving techniques and ridiculing bad ones there’s more of a chance for a driver to follow the group. Another thing I can personally do is be a designated driver. While being DD may not be the most fun, it is the most important. To have responsibility over other people’s well being is sacred and to make sure everyone is ok at the end of the night is something that I can do to help keep impaired people off the road. I feel my training of not only being a driver for a few years now but also being a student helps influence me to make smarter choices when coming to driving. I take accountability for myself and know my limits so that if for some reason I shouldn’t be behind a wheel I won't be. Impaired driving is a big problem but with more and more people learning the real risk factors and consequences, citizens can make more informed decisions about their well being and whether or not they should get behind the wheel. 

By not only being good drivers but also good bystanders, we can help keep impaired drivers from hurting themselves and others on the road. It may not fix all the problems but it will help some and the power of some can lead to the power of many.