Impaired driving can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. To my friends, impaired driving means texting on the road. To my grandparents, it means driving while on pain medications. To Aaron Coy Pennywell’s mother, who talks to my choir at Banquet every year about impaired driving, it means driving while drunk or under the influence. The CDC website defines impaired driving as “when someone operates a vehicle while impaired by substances such as marijuana, illicit drugs, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, and/or alcohol”; while this is true, real impaired driving can have a much more complex definition. 

Impaired driving, in my own words, is driving while distracted or being unable to give the road, car, and your surroundings your full attention. This can be caused by several factors- both illegal and serious, and legal and (thought to be) inconsequential. Everyone knows about the big dogs- the ones people talk about the most; being drunk or high on the road. Not only are these extremely dangerous, but are also very illegal. In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in awareness about texting while driving; I might be biased, as I am a high school student who’s been preached this for years, but I see it all the time. I’ve been driving for over 2 years now, and nearly every time someone misses a light change or starts swerving out of their lane when I’m coming back from school, I can look over and see a phone in their hand. Some things are more brushed aside and not talked about, however. One hardly ever sees signs about driving while tired, or on light prescription medication. Driving while tired is a big one, especially speaking as a person who needs a lot of sleep in order to function at full capacity. Many people drive while tired or fatigued simply because it’s a part of their lifestyle; if your shift starts at 6am and is an hour away, you’re going to be driving at ungodly hours of the morning. Same goes for how early high school starts. This is generally a problem more focused on by truck drivers who drive for a living, but affects the average person more than they may actually realize. As for prescriptions, I know almost entirely for sure that most people just don’t listen to the “don’t operate heavy machinery” advice that the pill bottles say- you’ve gotta get around somehow, and if you live alone, only have one car, or live in a place without accessible public transportation, there’s few options to choose from. This is especially true for people prescribed medicine long term- if one’s antidepressants or muscle relaxants for chronic issues have a side effect of fatigue or drowsiness, a lot of the time they can’t just stop driving-  again, money won’t make itself.

This is what a lot of seasoned drivers either get wrong, forget about, or brush off. All of these things are dangerous. Some are more dangerous than others, obviously, but most are more dangerous than we realize. Since my uncle’s been driving for over 30 years, then of course he knows that drinking and driving is bad… but he only had one beer out with his coworkers, so he should be fine driving home. If my cousin Kira has been driving for 4 years and has to drive from Nashville to Houston to visit her mom for her birthday, she might have to do it all at once to get there on time- even if that means driving with no breaks or time to rest. The truth is that most reasonable drivers know the laws and the rules of thumb, but tend to ignore them if they deem them as minor, unimportant, or breakable “just this once”. All drivers need to understand that driving impaired in any way is dangerous. Loud music, loud people, and squirmy children can distract a driver as much as texting can. Driving tired, crying, or with a lot on your mind can distract a driver as much as a buzz can. When my little sister and her boyfriend are laughing and yelling in the back seat of my car, I always tell them to be quiet so I can focus on the road. As much as I like loud music, I always make sure it’s quiet enough so I can pay attention to my surroundings and hear the noise of the road and the cars around me. I try not to eat or drink while driving, and I never groom or do my makeup on the road, even while stopped. In all honesty, I am a cautious driver because I am scared; I know that every time I get into a car, a mistake- whether mine or someone else’s- could injure me, my passenger(s), or cost us our lives. While drivers don’t need to obsess about that fact, it’s important to have it in the back of their minds as they go out on the roads, and to know that driving while impaired can exacerbate that chance. 

Impaired driving, while sometimes unavoidable- like driving to work early, or driving with a screaming child in the backseat- is dangerous. All forms of it need to be taken seriously and understood completely. Knowing about all of the ways and consequences is entirely necessary, whether that be driving while intoxicated, tired, texting, or otherwise distracted. Impaired driving can cost people their lives.