I was dozing off in the back of the car when an abnormal sensation woke me from my slumber.  I felt a jolt and heard my mother shouting from the front seat.  The seat belt was unusually tight around my midsection, firmly locking me into place.  In a blur, a vehicle sped past us as my mother honked the horn and motioned to the other driver to pull over.  Confusion set in and I asked what was going on.  That is when I found out we had been sideswiped by the other car which was attempting to flee the scene.  My mother, who is a career prosecutor, kept pace with the other vehicle blaring on the horn as I called 911 on her cell phone.  Realizing that my mom wasn’t giving up easily, the offending car finally pulled over into the parking lot of the public library just before things got too crazy.  

       As we waited for the police, I rolled down my window to eavesdrop on the conversation and was surprised to hear my mother asking the other driver if she had been drinking.  I was even more surprised when the driver admitted it, especially since she seemed to be close to my grandmother’s age.  I previously thought drinking and driving was something high school or college kids did, not older adults.  It wasn’t long before the sound of a piercing siren filled the air and pulsing lights came blasting into the parking lot.  When my mom told the officer the other driver was intoxicated, he said he was not a DRE (drug recognition expert) and was unsure of how to do field sobriety evaluations.  It was his first year on the job and his first DUI case.  To my surprise he offered to pitch the other driver’s keys and let her go with a warning as a solution.  My mother, with her tough but polite prosecutor demeanor, strongly encouraged him to call another officer to help.  

          By the time the second officer arrived a crowd had gathered in the parking lot, and I was a mortified 12-year-old in the middle of it all.  I wanted my mom to just let this woman go; she looked like a harmless grandmother, and I silently rooted for her as she took the field sobriety evaluations.  After a terrible performance I watched as she was handcuffed and escorted into the back of a patrol car.  I felt a wave of guilt fill my insides, but on the way home my mother explained the reality of the situation, something I was too young to realize on my own.  If the officer threw the keys in the bushes and gave the driver a warning, she could have retrieved her keys after we left and continued to drive impaired.  If she caused another accident, an innocent person could be hurt or killed and a family destroyed.  The police department would be legally liable for allowing a drunk driver to cause another accident and my mother would be in violation of her oath as a prosecutor.  This experience and my mother's wisdom changed my outlook on the situation and I now believe it is never acceptable for anyone to drive impaired.            

            Situations with impaired drivers, like my own personal experience, are fairly common.  There are many ways a driver can be impaired, it does not necessarily need to be from alcohol.  Impaired driving occurs when a driver is not functioning as they normally would be due to factors that diminish or weaken their ability to drive.  Impaired driving is sometimes misunderstood because of personal biases and limited education, leading many people to believe you must be “drunk” to be impaired, as was the driver in my situation.   Actually, there are many physical and mental influences that can diminish a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle, other than being under the influence of alcohol.

               Driving while overly emotional, ill, sleepy, putting on makeup, on the phone or under the influence of mind-altering substances will impair a driver and render them less capable of driving safely.  All of these conditions increase the risk of a car accident because they affect a driver physically and mentally by leaving them with slower reflexes, difficulty focusing, and decreased reaction time.  Cell phone usage is the most common form of impaired driving since almost all drivers have a cell phone with them in the car.  Crashes due to the use of cell phones have surpassed DUI crashes because their constant presence in the car makes them a tempting and common distraction.    

             Regardless of the type of impairment, it is important for all drivers to take measures to eliminate them to reduce the risk of accidents.  Educating yourself with a traffic school course is important because it teaches defensive driving techniques, traffic laws, and how to avoid distractions.  These classes help educate drivers in real world situations that they may not have encountered before to better prepare them for what can happen when they are behind the wheel.  Traffic courses help drivers learn essential skills and gain confidence.  In addition to classes, all drivers (myself included), can help prevent impaired driving by leading by example.  For example, when we are in control of a vehicle, we should put our cell phones down and ignore text messages.  Using a phone while driving encourages others to feel comfortable in following your bad actions.