Impaired driving is one of the most dangerous things that people are most commonly around today. From something that seems as small as responding to a text while driving, to something as dangerous as driving while intoxicated, impaired driving is a very serious issue that many people today are faced with. 

Impaired driving occurs whenever someone operating a vehicle is doing something that could cause them to become distracted while on the road. Impaired driving is commonly misunderstood by people who have taken driving school because many people assume that impaired driving refers to people only driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, however, this is not the case. Impairment is anything that could potentially cause someone to lose focus while on the road.

For many people today, the most common example of impairment we face is the distraction of our phones. Even something that seems as small as changing the song you're listening to can ultimately lead to putting yourself in highly dangerous situations. Your phone most often takes away from your driving ability because we can become so easily distracted by them. We reach for our phones all the time out of boredom, and many people even do this while driving. Our phones ultimately affect our driving ability due to the fact that people reach for their phones every time they are not busy. In the few seconds that we are at a stop light, we reach for our phones to make sure we have not missed anything, or to scroll on social media for the few seconds we are able to. Our phones are ultimately the biggest distraction and cause of impaired driving for people today. While it may seem tempting to scroll on your phone while you are on the roads, it is incredibly important to prioritize the safety of yourself, and those around you.

One story that has made me completely put my phone away while driving is a story I heard about a car accident that I heard from my father. One night, there was a woman driving to go visit her family and she had both of her children in the car with her. As she was on her way to her family’s house, she was hit by a car. The mother and both her children were all killed in this accident. The driver that caused this accident was not even intoxicated, he was scrolling on Tik Tok as he was driving. Because he wanted to be on his phone as he was driving, he will now have to deal with the guilt of taking the lives of a family for the rest of his life. Not only can you hurt yourself by being distracted while you are driving, but you are able to ruin the lives of someone you did not even know. The fact that this woman simply wanted to visit her family and never got to due to someone else’s poor decision making has led me to hold myself accountable, and completely put my phone away while driving so I do not hurt myself or anyone else. 

Ultimately, the best way to put an end to impaired driving is to teach others just how dangerous it really is. One way that we can help people to become more aware of just how important it is to drive without distractions is by attending driving school and taking traffic school courses. By taking these classes, you are able to be taught by someone who understands the severity of how dangerous it is to be distracted while on the roads. By being taught just how dangerous this truly is, this can help shape the right attitude for students to understand how important it is to understand the dangers of impaired driving. These programs have the ability to show students realistically what these situations would be like, and just how easily it is to become distracted while you drive. By giving students real life examples and situations of impaired driving, this would show students the importance of not becoming distracted while you drive, and hopefully influence them to be safe while they’re driving.

In the end, while taking classes and hearing about just how dangerous impaired driving is, the best thing everyone can do to help this cause is to be the best example you can be while on the roads. By taking it upon yourself to not be distracted while you are driving, practicing defensive driving, and by watching out for the other drivers around you, you are helping yourself and the people around you be safe on the roads. It is incredibly important that we stress how dangerous and easily we can become impaired while driving, but individually we all must do our best to drive safely