Impaired driving to me means operating a vehicle when you’re not feeling one-hundred percent or are not giving one-hundred percent focus and attention.  The most common kinds of impairment seen today come from alcohol, drugs, and texting.   Impaired driving is often misunderstood because people underestimate how even small amounts of alcohol, drugs, or any kind of distraction can affect a person's judgement while operating a vehicle. These factors impair a driver's coordination, decision making abilities, and they are overall unneeded and unsafe distractions while driving. A driver being drunk or under the influence is dangerous for the driver, their passengers and every other person on the road. Texting has also proven to be a big issue for drivers because it takes your eyes and focus off of the road. 

However, it’s often disregarded how dangerous driving can be even without those factors. People are so easily distracted when drivers should have their eyes on the road at all times. When someone forgets to put on their glasses because “It’s only a little blurry without them”, looks down for a split second to answer a phone call, or looks in the mirror to fix their hair, this to me is considered impaired driving. These components could make the driver's reaction time decrease, and make them more susceptible to an accident. When my older brother was a junior in high school, he got into a car accident right outside of our neighborhood. The car behind him was very close to his bumper, so he kept checking his mirror because he was feeling uneasy. Because of the split second he took to look in the mirror, he crashed into the car in front of him, and the car behind him slammed into him as well. My brother's car was totaled, and he was very shaken up from the accident. This was a real wake-up call for me. I realized that even if I do everything right, meaning I keep my phone away and I am sober while driving, accidents can still happen. I keep my eyes on the road better now, and make sure that I’m a safe distance from all the other cars around me.

I believe driver education should discuss more scenarios like this. When I attended driver education classes, they mostly talked about the more well known causes of impaired driving; like texting, alcohol, drugs, etc. I think those points are what make drivers education classes effective, because those factors are the most common reasons for accidents. However, knowing just how dangerous driving is without those factors would make the classes even more effective. Also, it would make younger adults feel less comfortable driving. Teenagers often think that if they stay sober and put on their seatbelt, they’re all set to drive safely. Drivers who are too assured behind the wheel have more accidents because they aren’t being cautious enough. While drivers who aren’t confident in themselves could cause accidents, it’s less common as they tend to be more alert. I have a friend who thinks she’s really good at driving. Because of this, she now thinks that she’s invincible on the road. She never checks her blind spots and she drives about twenty miles over the speed limit everywhere she goes. As a result of this carelessness, she got into a crash over the summer and she doesn’t have a car anymore. Feeling secure in your driving abilities is important, but too much confidence creates a false sense of assurance. People should never be too comfortable while operating a vehicle, and I think that is the underlying root of so many accidents. You can see this even in drunk driving. The majority of the people who drive under the influence believe they’re “amazing drivers”, therefore they can get by driving drunk and don’t have to follow the law. This mentality is false, as alcohol heavily impairs your mental as well as physical state. 

I can play a role in preventing impaired driving by speaking up when I see someone about to drive impaired. I can offer to be a designated driver, or call a friend to come pick us up. Additionally, I can be a role model for other drivers by keeping my eyes on the road and not letting other things distract me. And lastly, I will make sure to never become too comfortable with my driving abilities and advise other drivers to have that same mindset. I will influence others to be safe when driving. Thank you for considering me for your scholarship.