Are aspies generally bad drivers?

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What state do you live in? You realize how much that scares me, don't ya?

No reason to be. It's totally normal. Quite common. It's a type of dissociation. A normal, not at all unhealthy type. Basically, different parts of the brain are doing different things and not connecting with each other. So, one part of the brain is driving, paying attention to input from the senses, watching the road, while the conscious part of the brain is off thinking about things, ignoring the outside world. Our brain is engaged in driving, we are watching the road; it's just that our conscious part of the brain isn't paying attention to the parts of the brain doing the driving.

In things I've read about dissociation, that's always given as an example precisely because it's so common. It's something most people who drive have experienced at times. And there's nothing unsafe when it happens.

I drive fast and I like fast fast cars.

Okay, good, because in my MY case, I usually dissociate myself right into running over a Girl Scout.

Because it makes it difficult for me at work, I've thought about practicing again and trying to get a license, but it has been a few years since I've been behind a wheel for longer than it takes to pull out of a driveway and I really have only one person I could drive with right now (my new BF) and I already feel like a burden on him and we have enough AS/NT difficulties to negotiate as it is. So, I think I'll have to wait a while for this one.

Last edited by dyingofpoetry on 25 Jul 2010, 1:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I used to drive very slow, but now I drive slightly above the speed limit if I know where I'm going. I rarely go to new places, and am extremely nervous when I do. I know very few road names. I've had a GPS for about two years, and it's made my life so much easier whenever I have to go somewhere that I've never driven to myself.

Sometimes when making a turn, I'll wait and wait and wait, through several easy opportunities... then I'll just go sometimes, even if the next car was closer than some of the chances I passed up on. It's more like I have to get my confidence up. I've found that it helps put things into perspective if I look into the rear-view mirror after I make my turn. It is usually MUCH longer than I'd have expected until I see the car I was turning in front of go by.

I've had one accident... I was distracted by the taillights of the car in front of me and I didn't see her stop for a school bus. They were just such an unusual shape that they sucked my eyes in and I couldn't help myself.

I've had my license (and with it, a car) for a few months now and I've had no major problems other than a few small incidents that any inexperienced driver may come across, especially on a freeway

When I drive, I indicate every turn and lane change, come to a complete stop at every stop sign, pull over to answer the phone, and generally stay within 5mph of the speed limit.
In short, if you're in a hurry or want to speed, do not get behind me!

I can relate with the "tuning out" to some extent. I could be thinking about anything else and as soon as the car in front gets a little too close for comfort (and I tend to leave plenty of room), I will tap the brakes.

Cars are one thing I completely understand and can take full advantage of their capabilities.

I've had a lot of trouble driving. My second wreck made me afraid to drive. Busy roads are the worst.

Now it's made life difficult, we don't have reliable transportation in these sticks /:

I tried to learn how to drive when I was 18. The instructor said that he was concerned because I spaced out a lot while driving, sailing right through stop signs, etc. Discouraged, I didn't try to learn again until my thirties. This time I got a bad instructor, like fleeced mentioned. He constantly put me down, made jibes about my driving, etc. I finally reported him to the BBB and got a refund. The next instructor was a gem. I can still hear her voice when I do certain things while driving.

Much like Rainman....i'm an excellent driver


Seriously though.....i've been driving since I was in my early 20's and I have no
problems with it.

I can't drive stick though.


And I live in a big city where you really have to drive hyper-defensively.



I can even parellel park better than alot of NT's I know.


All this in spite of my abysmal visual-spatial skills.


I'm a better driver than alot of NT's and yet I epic fail at visual-spatial tasks on IQ tests
like "object assembly".


Go figure.

Cannot drive. Visual processing is too messed up, even without being epileptic.

If you're good with your hands, arms and fingers, you can drive.

Your brain controls this all from a central point. The same as you in that car. You are IT'S brain, controlling all the small parts of it. Well, apart from the ignition system anyway, that's more like the heart. When you stall, that's a "heart stopping moment"

This is me. Do I like driving? No. I don't really dislike the pure state of piloting the vehicle, such as late at night or early early when I don't have to battle other traffic.
I like driving like I like grocery shopping.

Also, like DonDud, I will miss chances to turn, mainly when people are still approaching but who for whatever reason are going quite slow. My mind wants to predict them about the start accelerating since my mind models average drivers as speed-freaks. I don't like the perceived risk of turning in front of someone who might not know I'm there and might be planning to floor it if they just turned onto the road or started coming from a stop at the intersection.

I also had a special interest phase of hypermiling, and still practice all the techniques to save myself some fuel though my reading/writing interests have moved on after I did one writeup on my experience and results. Hypermiling is a way of increasing fuel efficiency by avoiding wasteful usage of the brake. When you have to brake you are being inefficient with the fuel it required to gain the speed. You can also shut off the car at long stops, so you aren't losing fuel to dead idling. That's about all there is to it, and it's about completely opposite of typical driving in which you try to get going really fast and get around slow people as fast as possible to theoretically get somewhere faster. I don't find I can get anywhere faster even if I try, vs the time it takes when I try to maximize my fuel mileage.

I think I'm a good driver. I'm more courteous and defensive than most people.

If I see someone coming up behind me I'll move to the right lane so they can pass, or if the road's only one lane I'll eventually look for a place to temporarily pull off. When I've been in the car with someone else driving I notice that they often don't even pay attention when there's a line of 5 cars behind them wanting to pass, yet when they're the one in a hurry and a slow person get's in their way they'll get all pissy and drive right up to the car in front's tailpipe. I don't understand why people are so selfish and hypocritical on the road.

There's one exception though. I'm fine with driving as long as there isn't another person in the car telling me what to do or making me nervous. Then I just might have an accident. I don't like being distracted or having people expect me to carry on an important conversation while I'm trying to make the correct turns to get somewhere I'm not 100% familiar with. I'll mess up and go the wrong direction almost every time. One time I went through a stop sign because my dad was yelling and arguing with me and refused to STFU and stop distracting me.

My first car was a '97 Eclipse GS-T Spyder and I wrecked it before I paid my first month's insurance. I lost control, no other cars involved. Because of the small rear window, I often backed up into things. I even drived in a gully that surrounds some people's driveways and it had the rear sticking up in the air. I got out and picked up the front so I could try and roll it out, but with no one in the driver seat and the gear in reverse, it ran away from me. I was able to hop in without any further damage though.

I just about totaled my dad's Pontiac Grand Am. I lost control, no other cars involved.

Then I got a new Honda Civic. I had a couple more minor accidents, with one involving another car. But just recently, after paying off my car, I totalled it on the highway. I lost control, no other car's involved.

As you can see I have a control issue.

I'm learning to drive and I thought that it would be really hard because it involves lots of things that I find difficult. But I have actually picked it up pretty quickly. My only problem seems to be losing my concentration randomly while driving but this doesn't happen so much if I make lots of stops.