Impaired driving means to me that if you are causing dangerous things to happen, then you are in fact impaired this can cause misunderstandings because many people have different definitions of “dangerous.” This shouldn't be the case though this rule should be more refined to understand what it means to be impaired.

The types of impairment that are most common I would claim to be would be drinking and weed consumption. I would consider these to be the most notable because it’s so common to consume these things well under the age well using them and driving seems to be taken as seriously because these substances are deemed not as harmful. According to the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 12.7 million people ages 12 to 20 drink even though the law dictates that this is illegal they still do it due to others around them normalizing this and even encouraging so if this is the understanding around youths it shouldn’t be surprising that they assume driving well impaired will be just as normal. 

I’ve experienced people around me drinking and driving. It shaped me in a way that is hard to describe but I’ll try my best. My older sister was the one that started drinking and driving. She tells me it started as a teenager going to more excessive things as she grew older. She felt as if it made her a better driver because in her mind she had to be safe because she was impaired, I of course didn't agree with her but she was the one with a car and I was the one that wanted a ride. This changed me in several ways, how I saw my sister, the way that she would carelessly put me and several other people in danger and the way I saw myself. I had to be the responsible sibling because she couldn’t be, now even when I’m more than the legal age limit to be drinking, I barely ever do and I make sure if I’m ever supposed to drive somewhere I’ve had more than a day of recovery because I never want to be viewed like I view my sister as reckless, selfish and above else self destructive.

Drivers education and traffic school courses help change attitudes and behaviors of everyday citizens by helping them understand the meaning of safe driving and what cars should be viewed as. This means defensive driving and when to be more considerate of other people even if you’re in a rush no one's life is worth dying over because you missed your exit or are late for work. Being distracted is also a top for being impaired while driving so that text or call can wait unless you’d consider a lifetime in prison more worth it. Cars are also very dangerous they’re not toys to play with and streets aren’t racetracks to see who’s car is faster. In the United States, reckless driving contributed to approximately 12,654 fatalities from 2018 through 2022, which is about 6.4% of all motor vehicle deaths during that period. Thousands of people died not a few or hundreds, it’s thousands and that all could’ve been prevented, lives are not supposed to be ended so abruptly because something so easily preventable.

The role I could play in preventing impaired driving is making sure others around me are okay to drive and making sure people have rides or a place to sleep it off if they are not. This should be the standard practice for people especially because in this day and age there are so many preventive ways to not drive well impaired for instance apps that you can book a car ride to and from your destination or be able to call a friend or family member to pick you up or if none of these options are available don’t become impaired it’s more easy to not drink or use substances than ruining your life or ending someone else's.

In conclusions to all your questions it’s just not worth it to drive well impaired, drive safe even if you haven’t used alcohol or drugs be considerate because you never know what kind of day someone is having and if you’re the person having a bad day being hit by a distracted driver or flipped off by an angry one is not something that you’d like to happen so drive like you care about everyone else not just about your destination.