Driving while impaired, distracted, or inexperienced can pose dangerous and even deadly consequences. Thousands of students across Manitoba are learning those risks through Manitoba Public Insurance’s ‘Friends for Life’ speaker series.

On Monday, Garden City Collegiate students heard from John Westhaver.

The crash survivor wanted to get one message — how one decision, whether good or bad, can impact the rest of your and your family's lives.

When Westhaver was 18 years old, he was involved in a crash that drastically changed the rest of his life.

“Our whole lives were ahead of us, and I just remember how carefree we were. That was the last thing I remember,” Westhaver told the grade 11 and 12 students.

It was April 29, 1994 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

Westhaver said he was drinking with his best friends. One friend wasn’t drinking that night, because he was the designated driver.

On the way home, he said the driver was speeding — going roughly 140 km/h in a 90 zone — when he lost control and hit a telephone pole, causing the car to catch fire.

Westhaver found all this out when he woke up in hospital.

“I look down and I’m completely wrapped in bandages. Like my body, 75 per cent of my body, is burnt.”

His three friends were killed in the crash.

For the last 15 years, Westhaver has been talking about that night.

He’s one of three speakers for ‘Friends for Life,’ which is traveling to nearly 40 schools throughout the province.

During his talk Monday, he asked the audience to put themselves in his shoes, and that mindset left a lasting impact on students.

“I know I have friends that, like, drive like crazy sometimes, and it really made me think about them and myself, and how it would affect their families, and, like, everyone in the community if something ever happened to them,” said grade 12 student Victoria Dias.

Fellow classmate Reese Freedman said Westhaver’s message hit close to home.

He said a family friend was killed by an impaired driver.

“You’re not only putting yourself in danger, you’re putting everyone else around you in danger. People in other cars, other people in your car,” said Freedman.

Westhaver hopes what happened to him and his friends doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“We’re still seeing people killed in car crashes, and one life is too many,” said Westhaver.

According to MPI, 16 to 19-year-olds are four times more likely to be in a crash while impaired, compared to those 25 and older. It also said an average of 29 Manitobans are killed each year due to distracted driving.