Impaired driving remains one of the most preventable causes of death and serious injury across our communities. Yet, its effects ripple far beyond the individual behind the wheel. Impaired driving harms families, disrupts communities, and profoundly impacts our youth. As we strive for even safer communities and healthier futures, it becomes more critical to understand how impaired driving affects us, how we as community members can prevent impaired driving, and to look at these matters through a cultural lens.
The Impact of Impaired Driving on Youth, Families, and Communities
For youth, the consequences of impaired driving are especially grave. Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of death for teenagers, and when alcohol or drugs are involved, the risk of death or serious injury skyrockets. Adolescents are particularly at risk as inexperienced drivers but also as passengers and pedestrians. Witnessing or being affected by an impaired driving incident can also cause long-term psychological trauma.
Families suffer profoundly. The emotional toll of losing a loved one or dealing with life-altering injuries is compounded by financial hardship, legal consequences, disrupted family dynamics, and the uncertainty of our futures.
Communities, in turn, feel the strain through increased healthcare costs, emotional burdens, and the broader social cost of lost people, whether that be the potential of our youth, capability of our adults, or wisdom of our Elders.
Prevention Strategies and Education Efforts
Education and early intervention remain the cornerstones of prevention. Programs focusing on teaching young people about the risks of impaired driving—often before they are even old enough to drive—help build awareness and decision-making skills. Some effective strategies include:
- Education: TCC’s Department of Wellness and Prevention can provide education on the risks of substance use and its impacts on people at all stages of life. Additionally, Tribal Protective Services is able to provide a Drunk Buster activity, an obstacle course that is navigated while wearing goggles that simulate the effects of being drunk.
- Peer-led initiatives: Empowering youth to lead discussions and create campaigns allows them to speak to their peers, and the community, about why they want people to avoid impaired driving. Adults are also encouraged to share their own messages on the topic with others in their community. This promotes an attitude of accountability towards tackling substance misuse issues, like impaired driving.
- Parental engagement: Parents play a critical role in modeling responsible behavior regarding substance use and setting clear expectations about drinking and drug use.
- Policy support: Strong, local policies aimed at helping people address the root cause of their drinking or substance use are critical to creating a local culture that can effectively handle those issues. They are health issues, and need to be treated as such.
Preventing impaired driving accidents is something that takes the whole community. There is a part to play for everyone, and everyone needs to do their part.
The Role of Culturally Responsive Approaches
Of course, dealing with any sort of issue takes strength and our communities are strong. That strength is found in our traditional values, the very things that allow us to create communities where everyone belongs. The cultural values of caring, village cooperation, responsibility to the village, and unity mean we hole in esteem the tools we need to reduce the harm caused by impaired driving.
Everyone has their part, a way to promote unity:
- Each community can work with their respected elders to create conversations around how to deal with impaired driving as a community and in the home.
- Leaders can work to identify and address the causes of impaired driving in their communities.
- Families can talk about the risks of impaired driving, the dangers of substance misuse, and how those things get in the way of accomplishing our goals.
- Individuals can make sure that they hold each other responsible for not driving impaired. Whether it’s a designated driver, or other strategy, we owe it to each other to make sure we get home safe.
Through unity and responsibility to one another, we can reduce the harm that impaired driving causes to us.
Resources and Support Available in Our Region
Fortunately, there are resources that can help our communities deal with impaired driving, and its root causes.
- TCC Wellness and Prevention: Invite Wellness and Prevention to your community. We can talk to people about many substance use issues, including impaired driving. We’ll even help support you in establishing local efforts to deal with those issues and more!
- Tribal Protective Services: Whether it be VPSOs showing the dangers of impaired driving or their staff dedicated to helping victims of crime, this department has a wide variety of services that can benefit your community.
- TCC Behavioral Health: Often impaired driving is part of bigger problems. Behavioral Health is there to help. Whether it be through assessments, crisis response, or counseling, their staff are here to help with the larger issues of mental health and substance misuse.
- Primary Care: Impaired driving often results in severe injuries and death. It’s our highly trained Community Health Aides that often end up on the front lines of these accidents.
If you or someone you know is affected by impaired driving or substance use, reaching out to these organizations can be the first step toward healing and change.
Conclusion
Addressing impaired driving is a community responsibility. By educating our youth, supporting families, and embracing the strengths of our culture respectful solutions, we can create safer roads and stronger communities. Let’s commit to prevention not just as a policy, but as a shared value—because every life lost to impaired driving is one too many.