Impaired driving, to me, means driving in a state of mind that is unfit to make rational or safe decisions. It means getting behind the wheel without regard for the safety of yourself, other passengers, or other drivers you may encounter. There are many possible reasons that the concept of impaired driving may be misunderstood: a driver believes that impaired driving can only occur with an excessive amount of drugs and alcohol, rather than any amount; that drugs and alcohol are the only two contributors to impaired driving; and that they as a driver are not susceptible to impaired driving, because they believe that they are an exception.

The most common types of impairment seen today are the usual suspects: drugs, alcohol, and texting while driving. However, there are some other types that are not quite as known but do serious damage, especially in younger drivers. Fatigue is a big factor. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 hours straight with no sleep is roughly equivalent to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%. Even more concerning, 24 hours without sleep is similar to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10%! This means that if a high schooler stays up all night gaming or working on a school project, the next morning as they drive to school, they have the same level of impairment as a 21 year old who is 0.02% over the legal limit to drive! This statistic alone shows the dangers that young drivers face on the road. Another factor not usually considered is the pressure to look cool in front of friends. While it would be great if kids weren’t stupid and chose to stay safe instead of show off, that’s not the reality we live in. Just a few weeks ago a senior at my high school crashed his car into a tree before school because he was trying to drift in order to show off for his friends. All of these different types of impairment contribute to unsafe behavior by either messing with the driver’s mental state in a way that makes them incapable of making rational and safe decisions, or diverting the driver’s attention from the road, where serious accidents can happen in fractions of a second.

I’ve heard many stories that warn me against drinking and driving, texting and driving, or driving while fatigued. However, there are a few stories that stick out in my mind and really make me scared to ever drive without 100% focus. The most prominent one is a more personal story. When I was very young, maybe four years old, I was driving along with my sister, who was a baby at the time, and my father. My sister wouldn’t stop crying, and it kept my dad from being able to focus fully on the road in front of him. So, as we were rolling up to a red light, my dad reached back to give my sister a binky in an effort to get her to stop crying. I didn’t realize until too late that my dad had let off the brakes and we were inches away from hitting the car in front of us. In the end, there was no damage to either car and no passengers or drivers were hurt, but little four year old me was shaken. That moment sticks out in my memories as a firm reminder to never get behind the wheel without full concentration, even if the scenario did not involve the usual drugs and alcohol.

I believe that driver’s education and traffic school courses can change even seasoned drivers’ perspectives on the dangers of impaired driving by allowing them to experience those dangers while in a rational state of mind. For example, I’ve seen multiple experiments done where drivers put on “drunk goggles” that simulate a legally drunk person’s vision and are then asked to walk in a straight line: none of them passed. Tests like these really open people’s eyes to the true dangers of impaired driving by showing them how hard it is to be safe in that state. These programs are effective in real-world situations because it allows drivers to think back to that training, and hopefully encourages them to make the safe decision.

There are many roles I can personally play in preventing impaired driving. The first, and most common, is being a designated driver when I’m an adult. This will allow me to ensure the safety of myself and my loved ones by preventing any of them from driving while impaired. I also believe that I can spread the information I possess to others in order to raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving, such as the studies done contrasting fatigued and drunk driving. Ultimately, as I grow older, I hope to be able to keep my loved ones safe both on and off the road.