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Sabu
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25 Jul 2010, 3:02 am

Is it just me or are aspies generally bad drivers?

I am 25 yrs old, but unable to drive motorbike or a car. All the ABC, Accelerator, brake, clutch, gears confuse my mind. When to apply what? Well I know when to apply what but still, unable to do them properly. There was a time when I tried to learn riding a motorbike, but I get anxious so much doing it that I make a mistake and bang, hit something.

Only thing I can drive with confidence is a bicycle. I feel more in control on it. All you need to do is paddle and brake. But not being able to drive motor vehicles is taking a toll on me, am getting depressed day by day to such an extent, I stopped trying now. Not being able to do something people are so easily do frustrates me.


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Seanmw
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25 Jul 2010, 3:03 am

idk.
i'm generally an okay one. Better than a few NT's i could mention...


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dyingofpoetry
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25 Jul 2010, 3:09 am

I can't drive at all. I've never had a driver's license.

1. Speed and spacial perception not good.

2. Space out.

3. Tend to get over-stimulated.


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Molecular_Biologist
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25 Jul 2010, 4:14 am

On the contrary, AS has made my skill in driving far superior to most people.

I attribute this to what I believe is a fundamental difference in the way my mind processes my peripheral vision.

Central vision is supposedly the most import part of vision for most drivers.

However, my peripheral vision is so good that I do not typically use my central vision at all when driving.

My fovea usually remains fixed on some random part of the road and I ignore that narrow part of my field of vision. This allows me to pay more attention to the things in the much wider peripheral field.

I can instantly process the vectors for all moving objects around me and react instantly to any potential collisions.



Angel_ryan
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25 Jul 2010, 4:21 am

dyingofpoetry wrote:
I can't drive at all. I've never had a driver's license.

1. Speed and spacial perception not good.

2. Space out.

3. Tend to get over-stimulated.


Same here. I think that it's about 50 50 I think AS makes some people who have good routine down pat can be amazing drivers and the other 50% just can't do it or they suck. I think you should have done a poll for this one.



Last edited by Angel_ryan on 25 Jul 2010, 4:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

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25 Jul 2010, 4:29 am

To quote Rain Man, "I'm an excellent driver." Seriously though, I've never had any problems with driving, I can "space out" or day dream and continue to drive just fine, don't even need to pay attention to what I'm doing really.


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Celoneth
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25 Jul 2010, 5:50 am

I drive well if it's a road I'm familiar with, that isn't too busy and I can half-space out on. Busy roads or highways I tend to get overwhelmed and I also have pretty bad depth perception.



DogDaySunrise
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25 Jul 2010, 6:34 am

I like to think I'm a decent driver, although I do tend to scream at people through closed windows a lot. Also, imagining I'm piloting a giant mecha can help :wink:



fleeced
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25 Jul 2010, 7:16 am

Sabu wrote:
Is it just me or are aspies generally bad drivers?

I am 25 yrs old, but unable to drive motorbike or a car. All the ABC, Accelerator, brake, clutch, gears confuse my mind. When to apply what? Well I know when to apply what but still, unable to do them properly.


I was 35 when I passed my test. My 4 siblings had been driving since they were 17 and I felt left behind. Someone suggested I learn in an automatic, it was tough at the start, but there was a lot less to think about I eventually got the hang of it. I wasted a lot of time with an instructor who was sarcastic and who I couldn't learn with. The combination of the right instructor and an auto worked in the end.


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n4mwd
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25 Jul 2010, 7:16 am

I'm an aspie and I have done pretty good. I drive a car but not a motorcycle. I may try to learn that soon though. When I learned to drive at 16 years old, things were not as crowded as they are now. I try to avoid the interstate these days because I prefer not being in crowds. If you are just learning, find a country road somewhere. Its easier.

I have an NT nephew that is 18 and hasn't learned to drive yet. He claims its because he doesn't want to run up his mom's insurance premiums. It seems that a lot of guys are waiting these days. I suppose it depends on where you live. Someone living in the city can probably live their whole lives on mass transit. I'm the opposite. I think trains and buses should be banned. They slow traffic down too much. Around here, nobody except bums and drug addicts actually use it anyway.



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25 Jul 2010, 7:52 am

I've met Aspies who are good and ones who are bad at it. I'm over-cautious, generally.


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jennm
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25 Jul 2010, 8:02 am

I'm horrible. I hit curbs all of the time. I can't figure out the rule on how to know where the right side of the car is.
If I'm driving and see interesting bits on the side of the road, I will look at them and sometimes I start steering towards it.
I'm fascinated by speed and sometimes push the car to see how fast it will go around turns and how easily I can stop if going fast. In my head it becomes a scientific experiment, but I know it isn't safe to do.
I don't think I should be driving...



skybluepink
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25 Jul 2010, 9:15 am

I'm a lousy driver. I passed my test 20 years ago because my parents insisted and swore never to drive again. I would have killed myself or somebody else by now, I'm quite certain. I don't even ride a bike comfortably but I can do it on a quiet road. I only feel really happy traveling in running shoes or on a horse.


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Prksrbrt
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25 Jul 2010, 9:19 am

I can drive fairly well, but I do have problems with spatial perception (So much that I dread going anywhere near mailboxes...) and i space out while driving. Driving stresses the heck out of me.



kx250rider
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25 Jul 2010, 9:50 am

There have been other threads on this subject, and based on what I've read, there seems to be very little connection between Asperger's and driving ability. There are good and poor drivers in all walks of life, and if anything, I think Aspies might be better drivers since we don't have so much of a problem with over-confidence, and we're generally more cautious and prefer to avoid conflict (probably wouldn't do things like take someone else' right-of-way, etc). For full-blown Autism, that might be a whole different case. Anyone with a freeze-up or panic tendency, might get in a world of trouble if driving.

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25 Jul 2010, 10:16 am

I think being a bad driver and not being able to drive aren't the same thing.

I do get the impression that aspies are more likely than average to not be able to drive.

But I don't think that aspies that do drive are bad drivers. I'm guessing aspies are more likely to be conscientious drivers, and thus good drivers.


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