When you see the word ‘impaired’ what do you think of? Do you think of someone without their eyesight? Do you think of someone missing an appendage? When I first heard the phrase ‘Impaired driving’, the first thing it brought to mind was someone sitting in the driver's seat missing the normal number of limbs. Later, as I was thinking about the words, I realized that impaired does not necessarily mean something is broken, or a body part is missing. In fact, the definition of impaired as given by the American Heritage College Dictionary is, “1. Diminished, damaged, or weakened... 2. Functioning poorly or incompetently”. Impaired driving, then, could occur in many ways. Things like a damaged car, a damaged person, a weakened road, or millions of other possibilities could impair a person's ability to drive. Unfortunately, often it is not other factors outside of the driver's control that impair their ability to drive. Often, drivers put themselves in positions where they cannot function well enough to drive safely. Drivers can impair their own ability to drive by consuming different products before they get behind the wheel, distracting themselves from the task at hand, or even by refusing to park their vehicle when it becomes unsafe for them to continue. Often drivers do this because they have never learned how to recognize when they are impairing themselves, but it does not have to be that way.

Consuming certain substances has been known to cause impaired driving for a long time. Alcoholic beverages often become dangerous in drivers, and while there is no law that says an adult above the age of twenty one cannot have any alcohol before driving, it is still dangerous to drive after drinking even a small amount of alcohol. The brain is a complex, delicate piece of machinery, protected from the outside by a hard case called a skull. When a driver drinks alcohol, it messes with their brain and slows down their reaction time. When a person takes drugs, they enter the body and infiltrate the brain from the inside, bypassing the skull and damaging the precious treasure inside, impairing a person’s ability to function properly. Drugs are dangerous to use at any time, and drinking too much alcohol is known to be detrimental, but consuming drugs or alcohol before driving is like begging for someone to die. 

Drivers often impair themselves without ever touching drugs or alcohol. They do this by distracting themselves. Some are oblivious to this fact, others knowingly divert their attention, making excuses to soothe their conscience. However, there is no good reason to distract any driver, especially yourself. Some people put on music, some stories, some put things like stickers and hanging ornaments on their windows, many more look at their phones or take phone calls while driving. Some of these, like listening to music or stories, or even decorating your car, are not always distracting or dangerous. Some may find them distracting, but others may find them soothing and useful to help focus. However, diverting your attention, your eyes, from the road at any point while driving is hazardous not only to yourself, but to those around you. Checking texts or taking phone calls requires looking at a phone, and looking at anything other than the road means that if something occurs in that moment, you are unaware of the change until it is too late. Diverting attention from the task of driving at any point while behind the wheel is one of the worst things a driver can do.

Sometimes a driver may be following all the rules but still be impaired. Sleepiness, emotional turmoil, or even hunger can put road users at risk. When these occur, often the best course of action is to stop and regroup, but sometimes people just will not stop. A driver may believe that they can go just a little bit farther, that they can overcome their condition, or that they have to get to their destination and cannot stop. However, by trying to continue while impaired, these drivers increase the chance of an accident, and if an accident does occur, they end up stopped anyway. Better to stop and take care of yourself before driving becomes dangerous, than to stop because of a wreck.

Through all her years of driving my mom has made sure that she has not impaired herself. My dad, on the other hand, has not. My mom has always managed to get where she needs to on time, while my dad does not always. My mom’s minivan, that she got used and beat up, has lasted 15 years and is only now starting to have issues. My dad has gone through countless vehicles in those same 15 years, and has totaled at least one of them. Of course, there are many reasons for these differences, but the main reason my mom has always gotten where she needs to be on time and has kept her vehicle in such good condition is because she does not drive just to stay within the rules. She drives to be safe and to take care of herself, her passengers, her car, and other road users. My mom went through a good driving program to learn how to drive and did not just stop learning, she continued practicing and learning how to drive safely. She drives carefully, and plans ahead so that she can drive unimpaired.

In going through a driver's education program I have learned how to recognize instances that could impair my driving, and how to take care of those dangerous situations. Impaired driving is no joke. Driver’s education or traffic safety courses will help you learn how to avoid self impairment and will decrease the chance of you blindly driving down the road. Not knowing how to drive well is an impairment in itself.

I have heard of horrible crashes that arise from one decision. One decision made within less than a second that had gruesome consequences that lasted a lifetime. One decision to drink, to take drugs, to look at that oh so important text, to keep driving despite the danger, or to do any number of stupid things can open up one split-second opportunity for disaster to strike. Often these decisions come from people who did not learn how to drive well through a good driving program. People tend to think that they do not need to put in extra hours to learn how to drive safely, but that is complete and utter folly. Plan carefully. Drive carefully. Learn how to recognize when you are impaired. Seek help from those who can teach you. Know that you are responsible for controlling a massive, heavy, fast hunk of metal, and make a decision to protect the lives of those around you. Take care of yourself, take care of your car, and take care of others.