Driving.. omg!

[LaLaLa]

Does anyone here have problems with driving? Does it bother you or are you fine with it? I've been taking lessons. Been trying but failing for over a year now.I'm still scared to death of being on the road. I really want to learn how to do it right. There are some days when I'm okay but certain days when I screw up so bad.. it feels like torture.

Yesterday, my instructor asked me, 'what is your aim of learning this?' I was just kind of speechless and she answered it for me, 'so you can get around in a car?' Lol, I felt so stupid.

I don't think I'm meant to be on the road...but I can't bring myself to tell my parents about it. It'd just sound too ridiculous, and the fact that I've been learning for so long and not really picking up on it is going to really dissapoint them.

 

[BlueDays]

I was extrememly nervous when i was learning how to drive. But in my opinion, learning to drive is one of those things where it rings true that the more you do it the easier it gets.
I have been driving for many years now and while I still have to concentrate on driving more than the average driver, it is possible!
So don't give up keep going and just give it time.

 

[scarletlee]

Learning to drive was a horrible experience for me. I was 29 when i got my licence and i had been trying since i was 16!

I could drive okay but my nerves were just too bad. I had several panic attacks on the road so it was very hard for me to get back behind the wheel.

It's important to do this at your own pace if it's something you find scary. Stay in the back streets or empty car parks until you get the feel of it and slowly build up to the main roads.

Also try not to feel pressure from other people like your parents or feel this is something you HAVE to do, do it for yourself when YOU are ready. Once you take that outside pressure away it will be easier to focus. Just remember to take little steps and you will get there.. if i did i'm sure you can too

 

[unleashed]

i was forced by family to learn to drive when i had a baby and lived in a rural area. i never wanted to drive and i HATED every minute of it. i just really didnt feel in control, like i saw a bunch of pedestrians on the sidewalk and i thought i would mow them down by accident. i did get my licence after a LOT of lessons and three tests but i never felt good driving and a partner asked me to just please stop doing it lol, so i did. i could never really afford the upkeep, tax and petrol anyway, plus i cant drive in this foreign land i live in cause its just way too complicated and i drink and am suicidal so its a bad idea to have a car. it can give you freedom, i think it gave me freedom that i badly needed at the time but it was just always such a worry..some people just can't drive like some people just can't cook or draw or sing? theres a cool poem by Roger Mcgough on the subject but i cant remember what its called..i just remember that when i read it i was like ''yeah!''. i think it depends how many lessons you've had and what your reasons for doing it are. it can give you freedom once you get used to it and humans can get used to most things.

 

[lunarla]

Driving freaks me right out. It didn't used to be such a big deal to me, heck, when I was younger my dad used to let me hold the wheel! I even drove a tractor when we lived on a ranch when I was really little (obviously supervised, lol). But now that my anxiety has kicked in and got to this irrational live, it terrifies me. I should have my license by now but I don't. I have driven my mother's car up the road leading to our house, but that's not such a big deal because there's absolutely no other cars on it. But when I think about driving on the highway, or even just the main road where I live, I almost have a panic attack. I just feel like I would be in so little control. The nightmares that I've had lately have been about driving and not being able to turn the wheel. There's lots of logging trucks that drive on the road I live and just the fact that they'd be so close is scary. Like, I could turn the wheel slightly for a couple seconds, and ah. I'm not giving myself credit enough to be sane enough not to just do that for some stupid reason. I have often felt that driving has no place for me. But I try not to think about all the things I'm afraid of about it because it sort of just psychs me out.

 

[Lorraine Manca]

i had trouble learning too! i felt like such an idiot, it took me three times to pass the test. the first time i took it, i was terrified of the instructor and froze up and couldnt do anything. im 100% sure she thought i was true blue retarded because thats the way anxiety made me act.
think of this, it sucks because before you get your license you can only practice driving with another person in the car in the u.s., which is torture for someone with social anxiety, at least for me! its much easier to drive alone, hold that thought. alone it will be easier+ you can get plenty of practice at night/somewhere not crowded and everything will be fine,

 

[peacegrrl]

Oh my god indeed. ::

How? How can a concept as SIMPLE as learning to drive turn into such a bloody hassle?

The one thing that would make my life ten times easier at the moment, is if I could pass the driving test. One single, tiny, insignificant little hurdle blocking the way to freedom. Yet I can't seem to shake off my driving-teacher-slash-parent who, while refusing to let me get an instructor to teach me PROPERLY, winds me up so tight that I stay awake at night dreading the next lesson.

Next thing I know, I'll be seeing a therapist for driving-related OCD

 

[apollo]

Next thing I know, I'll be seeing a therapist for driving-related OCD

That's pretty funny. ::

I remember feeling really anxious when I started driving but like a lot of things the more you do it the better it gets. Well usually.

But yeah definitely...people yelling at random on the passenger side does not help anyone!!!

 

[Noca]

I can drive very well, only problem seems to be the other ppl on the road who keep crashing into my cars. Only accident that was ever my fault was I tapped a car's back bumper in a parking lot going 1km/h(basically rolling). No damage was done to the car(as agreed upon by many onlookers), exchanged insurance information, and I thought that was it. Apparently the driver of the car made a $4800 claim against my insurance company(his ENTIRE car wasnt worth $4800 even if my car vaporized it), and good ole Statefarm insurance didnt notify me of the claim till 5 years later.

Statefarm is the absolutely most incompetent insurance company ever! They screwed up soo many times, as well as they dropped me for this single accident and a speeding ticket. What the commercials should really say is: "Like a bad neighbour, Statefarm isn't there."

I managed to pass both of my performance driving tests the first time, when so many here fail them the first time, sometimes second and third too.

 

[philly2bits]

I hate driving if it's any place I have never been before. I can drive around my own town or to places I frequent without any problems at all. But if I have to drive somewhere I have never been before then I get very anxious. I usual get lost too since I'm concentrating more on how I feel then on the landmarks or street names I need to look for.

 

[Noca]

I hate driving if it's any place I have never been before. I can drive around my own town or to places I frequent without any problems at all. But if I have to drive somewhere I have never been before then I get very anxious. I usual get lost too since I'm concentrating more on how I feel then on the landmarks or street names I need to look for.

Thats why I got my Garmin GPS, and my iPhone's GPS, so I never get lost

 

[Kustamogen]

I love driving...I used to do drag racing, autox, and drifting before my anxiety got bad....now I cant drive more than 10min from my comfort zone (so when I wanna drive a lot I make lil routes around my area....its ...sorta fun...I guess haha)

 

[osse]

Don't worry. I failed my first, second, third, fourth and fifth tests, but finally I got the license. And I also had fear of driving to new places and getting lost. A friend of mine told me that it doesn't matter if you get lost as long as you've got enough petrol in your tank. It's true. I have missed the right way so many times, yet at last you'll always find your way sooner or later. Before leaving, I would study the road map, though.

 

[chained]

well I'm supposed to get my license next year.. and I have orientation problems..
when i walk I kinda get lost, prolly cuz I rely to much on people around me(parents, friends). or I have rly ****ed up spatial intelligence :/

 

[Vecis]

I am disturbed by cars, and I think I will never drive them because I might hurt someone including me. And after I was hit by the car, luckily with out any injury, I am totally against cars. And this goes within my family. Father was never interested in getting driving license and now he is 57 years old. Brother tried to pass exam many times, but now only his wife is driving. So we have to use public transport which is bad and annoying in my country.

 

[JamieD]

I was in the EXACT same boat as you! I stopped having lessons. I didn't feel like i should be on the road, it felt wrong. I was an alright driver, but i sucked at observation- thats where my SA took over and made me feel like a dick behind the wheel. Everyone waiting and watching while i do a three-point-turn? NO THANKS. It wasn't good =/

 

[P+G]

I've been taking driving lessons since June last year but it's only recently that I've become more relaxed with driving. Lessons are much more enjoyable now. I guess my lessons weren't only just learning to drive but also learning to build up my confidence with talking. However a few times I felt a head tremor coming on which really frightened me. It's a 'no, no' head movement which is hard to control once it's started. I'm so glad that it has never actually happened but whenever I get the sensation I don't dare move my head because I know that if I did I would get a head tremor. That becomes a problem when I get to a junction or the end of a road and have to check both sides. I find that if I'm worried and unconsciously thinking about things then my driving isn't good so now I make sure that I'm concentrating and really observing what's in front of me. I definately think that it all comes down to nerves and anxiety. I remind myself that I need to lock down my anxiety because you need to be in full control on the road, the idea of killing someone with my driving is too horrible.

 

[Falkor]

I never took driving lessons, cuz i'm not 18 yet ( here in holland you have to be 18 to get a driving-license) but over 1 month i'll turn 18.
I will try it out, but I think i would have the most anxiety at the exam.. :$

 

[static]

I started driving a few days ago & it really scares me when I'm in an area with lots of other cars. I also feel like they're all laughing at how bad I am.

 

[dooby-duck]

I hated learning to drive. I had an instructor and also went out driving with my dad. I used to get really nervous with them both. I don't think driving with my dad helped at all. He has no patience and expected me to know everything even though I hadn't been taught. Say I stalled or did something wrong he would get angry instaid of telling me what I had done wrong.

After I passed the tests it took me a long time to get fully confident on the road. Now driving is probably the one thing I am really confident with. It's a good job really because I work in a garage so have now driven hundreds of different cars.