As a Woodbury police officer, Allan Olson has seen how dangerous and deadly impaired drivers can be on the road. This past August, it became terrifyingly personal when an impaired driver struck him and his son during a family trip up north. Allan was riding with his son, Jacob, on their ATV when a fun summer vacation turned into months of recovery from serious injuries. 

The Olsons sat down with us recently, talking about their struggles and their recovery journey as a family. They hope their story of moving from this terrifying crash back to normal will help raise awareness about the costs of impaired driving.

 

 

Impaired driving significantly impacts families across Minnesota. From 2020 to 2024:

• There were 668 alcohol-related driving deaths.
• Alcohol-related crashes caused approximately 1,926 serious injuries.
• There were 125,336 driving while impaired arrests.
• There were more than 15,000 impaired-involved crashes.

Remember, all it takes to stop impaired driving is to plan ahead for a sober ride if you’ll be consuming any impairing substance. 

 

“If the driver would have just made a different choice, I wouldn’t be suffering today. It’s why we have rideshare. It's why we have friends,” Allan said.