Car accidents are one of the most common leading causes of death in America. In 2022, there was a rough amount of people who got into car crashes was 5,930,496, 42,514 of which were fatalities. There is a wide array of causes for these crashes and fatalities, yet they all fall under the same category. This category is called impaired driving.  

In drivers' education, impaired driving is often limited to just substance abuse, neglecting to teach the smaller things that may be seen as less significant. To me, impaired driving falls under many different subsets. Impaired driving is driving while in a state of mind where you are not fully present/thinking correctly.  

One of the most common forms of impaired driving today is texting and driving. Texting in driving has been widely normalized among all drivers yet is truly a highly common cause for car crashes. Texting and driving clouds cognitive function, using a phone to send a text message can take up to 27 seconds for the eyes to focus on the road again. Studies have shown that using your phone while driving can have the same effect on driving reaction time as drinking four beers. Texting while driving can be extremely dangerous because it clouds cognitive function not only during the time that you are using your phone, but in the moments to follow as well.  

Another form of impaired driving is driving under the influence of alcohol. Driving while under the influence of alcohol is quite common, causing around eleven thousand deaths per year in America. That’s thirty-seven people per day, one fatality every thirty-nine minutes. Drinking and driving severely impairs the driver's ability to physically and mentally react to situations happening on the road. Drinking relaxes the muscles and creates a delayed response in the brain, slowing down the drinker's reaction time. Along with slow reaction times, alcohol affects a drivers' vision, concentration, coordination, and depth perception. This can lead to unsafe behaviors on the road because all of these factors could cause a car crash and could result in a fatality.  

I have a friend whose family member was driving under the influence and, coming home one night, hit their neighbors’ daughter as she turned into her street. Everyone was okay; however, the cops came, and there was a potential lawsuit involved. Fortunately, the family forgave the mom and dropped the lawsuit, however, the mom was never the same. This shaped my mindset around impaired driving because I saw the way that the incident not only affected her mother, but how it affected the kids, the neighbors' kids, and everyone else around. Because of the moms' choices, the kids and family had to be put under the stress of what might happen and wondering whether they will have enough money to pay for the lawsuit. Because of her choices, the neighbors’ daughter got hit and had so much fear in her heart when it happened. Because of her decision, the neighbors had to fear for their daughter because they didn’t know what was happening at the moment. Before hearing this story, I knew it was bad to drink and drive, however, after hearing the story it put it into perspective more with how the drivers' decisions not only affect themselves, but everyone else. 

Drivers' education can help change the attitudes and behaviors around impaired driving by informing drivers of the cause and effects of impaired driving. Some drivers are negligent to learn about these things, some because they don’t care, and others because they have failed to be properly taught. These programs would teach divers the importance of not driving while impaired and the cost of what happens when they do. If they are taught these things, it will make them more aware when they are driving to not do these things. This can be effective in real world situations because even if they aren’t the one driving impaired, they may have a better idea of what is happening and what steps to take to get out of the situation.  

The role that I can personally play in preventing impaired driving is that I can drive smart, not giving in to any possible temptations, especially texting while driving. When offered something that will impair my driving, I will refuse, knowing that it is not safe for me or anyone else on the roads. If I am around people and they are doing something that will impair their driving and put anyone in danger, I will speak up, doing everything I can to keep them safe. Knowing what I do, I can set an example of being safe, rational, and smart. If others see that I am making a safe decision, there is a higher chance that others will mirror that behavior.