How's your driving?

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Self-explanatory.
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I got my license around October 2006, when I was 19 years old. Since then, I've refined my driving skills, but I seem to sometimes drive like I am in a hurry. I am awaiting my first car, which I will get within a few years.

I'm a very good driver. When I was 18 I raced my Pro Stock Mustang in the quarter mile at several local places. I was really good at that, but not very good at top end speeds. I enjoyed driving that fast back then but top end on the highway made me worry that somebody would swerve over or I could blow a tire, etc. I've been driving since I was 17. Although the way I learned to drive might be an indicator of why I ended up liking the racing lol. If you want to hear the story, PM me and I'll tell you.

When I got in my late 30's and early 40's I started not liking driving or riding on the freeway and now I get nervous even on four lane roads or county roads where the speed limit is 65. I won't drive over 65 normally, although occasionally I have been in a situation where there has been an emergency and I floored it. I still remember how and I'm still safe at that speed but my old lady nerves can't handle it. I also can't handle being a passanger in a car going over 55. I can drive 65 and even a little faster on some roads, but I have no control as a passanger and it freaks me out.

I can't drive at night much anymore, except around town because of night blindness, even with my glasses, so I don't. That may be able to be fixed or not, but I have to wait on DH to get health insurance or Obamacare to kick in before I can. So night time driving is out for me, and I'm more nervous at night. I also am terrified to drive or ride in the rain at all now, no idea why.


ETA; Just thought of this. Since everybody mentions Rain Man when you say Aspergers I should have quoted it and said "I'm an excellent driver."

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My driving is good for the everyday stuff, and for winter weather driving. I want to learn some of the fancier defensive maneuvers, because I don't know any of those, and we have lots of things that end up in the road. Like cows.

I'm a fairly decent driver. You have to be, especially if you're a pizza delivery driver (One of the worst jobs around, since you get paid less than minimum wage, you get screwed on tips, you get screwed on mileage for your car, there are no benefits, there are no clearly defined duties for the job, etc.)

That is a pretty tough job, if I say so myself.

I am a bad driver. Hard to focus and consentrating and not slip into my own world while driving.

I'm OK at it, but I still drive exactly how I was taught to and often hear my driving instructor's voice when I do nearly anything when driving! Weird since I passed my test nearly ten years ago and can't even picture his name. I can't do things by instinct though- I still line things up in my mirrors when parking (I can only park backwards because that's how I was taught to) and my spatial awareness is terrible.

Driving is also a massive anxiety trigger for me, especially on motorways or when there are no other cars about (contradictory, I know). I get overwhelmed on the motorway and sometimes convince myself I've got a puncture or I can smell burning, so pull over onto the hard shoulder to check and *touch wood* there's never anything wrong but I get really freaked by it.

i can relate to all this above ^ haha

I don’t have a driver’s license. I am too aloof to drive a car. Even while I ride my bike I really have to fight against my natural inner tendency to be all zoned out. I consciously command myself to keep the focus on the traffic and not in trees, birds or in all those other inner or outer things that are constantly drawing my attention.

Plus I like riding a bike. It's healthy, cheap and ecological.

I'm pretty great at driving when there aren't other people around. As soon as I get into any kind of traffic, though, my anxiety kicks in and I feel boxed in. It baffles me how casual other people are about being a simple wheelturn away from throwing these giant metal death machines into each other. I went through driver's education about four years ago and got my permit, but I never took things any further than that after having experiences driving around actual people. The pressure I get to start driving again drives me crazy.

I drive OK, but I'm told I drive "weird" or "like a grandpa" because I sit up very straight with the seat all the way forward and keep both hands on the wheel.

I actually am an excellent driver. Car obsession over here. I've been watching rally since first grade and damn did it stick. Once you get used to manuals all the time it becomes a game, and once you get good at that game you can start visualizing contact patches and your line, then really playing with car control. From there you can walk the gears down and have a fantastic sideways time. After this point I like to dumbfound friends on telling them I did all that with a four cylinder.

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"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

I think it's a skill that you need to keep the level of practice good.

I used to drive like a demon/idiot - delete as appropriate.

Go out late at night just to rag the car when no one else was on the roads.

I have not owned a car for 10+ years, member of a car share co-op, but a fair bit more cautious now.

I'm a good driver, very attentive and defensive. I also don't get freaked out by people cutting me off, I thank the AS for that. Its hard for me to drive at night though when there are lots of lights, it becomes sensory overload, and I have trouble finding lanes, merging and seeing turns (beyond what you expect for night driving )

Also, the price of all that attentiveness is wearing me out. After I drive, I usually need to lay down and have quiet time. If I'm driving somewhere new, doubly so.

I have trouble driving at night in bright, busy places too because of the profusion of lights. Otherwise, I'm not bad at it.

I can even drive a stick-shift, drive on the freeway, in heavy traffic and in bad weather without much anxiety. But I can't parallel park to save my life.