“911 there is an emergency” the call we all hope to never have to make and especially not for our loved ones. The call that can mean life and death often because of a small mistake. Being distracted while driving is one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself into on a day to day basis. Many of us and me included find ourselves doing things that can lead to impaired driving. Impaired driving can be seen in so many ways whether it is something that is actively affecting one's capability to make decisions or just causing people to glance away from the road for a few seconds. No matter what it is it is just as dangerous to you and those around you. Oftentimes when learning about driving from either the people around you or through drivers education drugs and alcohol are the main impairments that are talked about. With that it leads to the problem that drivers don't learn how they can still be participating in impaired driving even when not under the influence.

I believe that alcohol, drugs, phones, and fatigue are all equally common amongst drivers nowadays. And while some in theory may “sound” more drastic and dangerous than others, in reality they aren't. Drugs and alcohol appear similar in driving in that it causes people to make rash decisions such as not following traffic laws and not taking the cars around them into consideration due to an inability to recognize their surroundings properly. Using phones while driving comes in many ways. Whether that is texting, changing the music, checking social media, taking pictures, and so much more. In those few split seconds that it takes you to switch your music could be the same few seconds that you could swerve off the road or not notice the car in front of you breaking. These few seconds are what can lead to disasters. When it comes to driving with fatigue it may be hard to realize how much of a danger this is while driving. However it is very common for people to fall asleep for a few seconds without noticing which can immediately lead to a very dangerous situation. Along with that when driving drowsy you are relatively driving the same as someone under the influence due to the fact that your brain will no longer be able to react in the same way as normal.

During the summer of this year I was told I had to go to traffic school due to getting a ticket. And as horrible as it was to get a ticket I was so grateful for the experience that going gave me. I figured that it would be the most pointless four hours of my life but it was the complete opposite for me. Our instructor was a police officer that worked on site of many fatal accident scenes and was able to put so many things into perspective for us. During this course we learned a lot about how defensive and distracted driving can become quickly threatening to our lives. These programs can help to provide people with real life stories that they can apply to their own lives. Being able to hear about accidents that could have easily been prevented if small actions were taken greatly helps people understand how much power they have when they sit behind the wheel. We were taught that when behind the wheel you are now responsible for your own life, and the people around you. The actions that you choose to make will then affect your loved ones and the people you are driving next to families and friends. 

Our instructor told us about this girl that was driving with her friend at night trying to complete a challenge that was going on online. The challenge was to reach 100 miles per hour and record the speedometer while doing it. And before she knew it her and her friend ran straight into a tree and were killed because she wasn't looking at the road due to trying to record the event. This story really stuck to me because while doing this may have seemed like a fun activity the dangers behind it were much more and definitely not worth it in any way. While going 100 miles per hour was dangerous to begin with, had the girl not been on her phone it is very likely that they would not have crashed into the tree and survived. Hearing about this accident guided me away from using my phone while driving because I now know how preventable accidents like these can be.

In my own life I have been avoiding using my phone at all possible times when driving because I know the dangers. Along with that I avoid doing anything but focusing on the road while driving. This has made a very large impact on how I drive and drastically reduced the amount of hazardous situations I've been involved in. WIth the new knowledge that I learned over the summer I told all of my friends and family about the stories I heard while there. And especially for my friends who tend to be distracted drivers, they have told me how much these stories impacted their lives and the way they choose to act on the road.