Growing up I was always told about a situation that happened with me and my mother. My grandmother told me that when I was a baby, my mom and I got into a car accident. My mom was trying to cross an intersection and a driver had hit her car. The car continued driving. The car accident wasn’t too bad but my granny always brings up that they had to break the car window to get me out. To me an impaired driving is someone who isn’t able to fully comprehend what's happening on the road based on their mental or physical faculties.

This is often misunderstood because the main cause of car accidents are caused by people who have been drinking or on drugs so it leads to many people thinking it’s the only cause of impaired driving. Not being able to fully see the road is also a big aspect of impaired driving which is what happened with my mom’s driving. She crossed into an intersection too far which led to the other driver hitting her. Being unable to fully see the road contributes to unsafe behavior as it can cause you to risk your life and others just as much as it would be driving intoxicated. It had me questioning what would have happened to us if the driver was speeding and how much greater the impact of the crash would have been. Would I be here today to even write this scholarship essay or would my father have to bury the mother and his child. 

This experience changed my view on impaired driving because I understand that it’s not just caused by intoxication but can be caused by anything that makes it hard for you to fully understand what’s happening on the road.  This has influenced my awareness on the road as I try to make sure I always find a route that doesn’t lead to an outcome that can risk my life or others. But it has even influenced me negatively, I often get road anxiety when driving in places with high traffic and don’t drive the freeway as well because of it. I know that I can’t avoid the freeway as I live in Houston Texas and I know that the freeway is the main form of driving in a city as big as Houston. My family has also been telling me that I have to learn how to drive the freeway before going to college as I would be taking myself there and back. Eventually I will have to learn to overcome this fear but it has just become very nerve wrecking. This fear I have developed has me also wondering what if I was never told about this crash to begin 

I had also had an experience with an even worse crash when I got older. This crash was caused by a driver that was speeding and wasn’t paying attention to the traffic. This led to them hitting the back of my granny’s truck and leading to her truck becoming fully totaled. This driver hit us so hard that it caused a 4 way crash in the tight traffic that was on a 1 way street. This experience had led to me becoming a lot more scared of the road as this crash happened a couple months before I began learning how to drive and going to driver's education. The driving course was fun to have but I feel like the courses don’t often focus on the different aspects of impaired driving. Impaired driving is always mainly focused on drinking while driving or texting while driving but it can also be caused by other things too. These programs are effective and important as it reminds people today that they should not text and drive or drive intoxicated but you have to also focus on the aspects of people’s mental state. You should not drive upset or with heightened emotions because this can also lead to you becoming impaired while driving. All of these things can lead to you putting yourself at risk and risking the lives of others and it’s important that you drive at the best version of yourself. 

I can play a role in preventing impaired driving when knowing my limits when it comes to the road. I understand that I get road anxiety and always take my time when driving so I do not become overwhelmed and it helps me feel more calm. My role allows me to make sure I keep my time on the road as positive as possible. My knowledge can help others make safer decisions because I will show people that you don’t need to force yourself to drive the ways you see other people driving. Texas especially as it is known as the leading state in the U.S. for that most high speed crashes and fatalities. Knowing that you are driving your best is all you need to get around in this world and don’t let someone's honking make you unsure of your driving skills.