I got pulled over by the police.

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It really seems like you have an excellent attitude to this.

Like I said, if you feel really overwhelmed, just pull over when you could safely pull over, collect yourself for maybe a few minutes, and get back on that road.

I do hope you are able to get a car soon; I find cars at least somewhat safer than scooters.

Kirstie, you would only be in trouble for not declaring if you genuinely knew that you always feel affected, all the time, by your spectrum issues when driving.

If you feel in control and capable most of the time, you don't have to declare, and if you get into an accident and it comes out about your Asperger's and they challenge you for not declaring, your case is that the rule is to declare IF it affects your driving -- and that means all the time. But it doesn't.

Every driver, even NTs, have occasional moments in bad traffic situations where they feel stress and narrowly avoid accidents or even get into one. There have been studies done about soaring blood pressure in traffic, and that wasn't even autistic people. It's normal to react with stress to a freaky situation on the road, what matters is how you handle it, and that goes for plain old NTs too. What you experienced wasn't much different from something an NT would feel in the same situation.

neilson_wheels, I see what you're saying. But the OP also stated:

"In normal circumstances, normal traffic levels, me being in a good, clear state of mind I don't believe my AS affects my ability to drive."

That can apply to people without autism too. People without autism have days when they know they shouldn't drive because they are stressed out, tired, distracted by something. It's even in the UK drivers handbook -- it recommends a person using their own judgement not to drive if they feel tired or stressed by something to the extent that it would impair them on that particular day, or journey.

So if NT people don't have to declare that some days they feel too much stress to drive, why should the OP declare the same? She says in normal circumstances and a clear state of mind, she doesn't believe her AS affects her ability to drive.

The rules don't state that you have to declare AS just because you have AS -- rather, they state that you have to declare it if you think it affects your ability to drive, and she doesn't.

The days she feels it does, however -- why are they any different to times when an NT feels stressed and frustrated or makes wrong decisions in bad traffic? They get that way too, but they don't have to declare anything.

My feeling is she should keep it to herself and make her own assessments day to day or journey to journey, just like anyone has to.

IF she has an accident they can't do anything to her if she states very firmly that she did not believe her AS affected her ability to drive, which is the truth, she said it in her post. They can't prove anything to the contrary, as their own statement says "if you think......" and neither can her insurers. It will be a "he said she said" case and if they try to make it about AS when she has insisted she firmly never believed her ability to drive is affected, thus based on that she was under no obligation to declare it as their own wording says to declare if IF you think it does affect your ability, then she can haul them over the coals for not believing her when their own wording allows for self evaluation.

She sounds like a deeply conscientious and responsible person, so in this case I don't think there's any reason for her to play their a-hole system and jeopardize her getting to drive at all. The system is all BS.

I mean, another thing they want you to disclose is eating disorders! That is BS. Screw them. There's a long list of total BS on their website. Some of this stuff is a stretch for them to argue "affects your driving."

And yet people with Alzeheimers are still permitted to drive.

Self-evaluation for level of affectedness is built into their little clause and she can fight them on that. They're fcked up anyway. This shouldn't even be there like it is for epilepsy or something that can clearly cause a problem. It's despicable that this clause even exists for Asperger's. If you can pass the driving test you shouldn't have to prove one more damn thing to them. NTs don't have to.

Bird in Flight - I can see your point of view too.

I agree that our lives are generally over regulated and that insurance companies are a bunch of weasels.

I posted the quote and link on the previous page as people were posting that the OP should call DVLA and discuss the problem. That's the 'official' policy and it's up to her to interpret that however she fits, I'm not in anyway an official but hopefully she can save herself an awkward phone call. I think decisions like this, whether to disclose or not, are best made in a calm state of mind with a full understanding of all rights, responsibilities and possible repercussions.

It's this line from the OP that makes me concerned personally:

At least the OP can recognize when it's unsafe to drive and sees the problem. That's already right there a huge improvement over most people who drive around here. And I'm sure most of them are NTs.

We've got senile, or hard of hearing, or nearly blind elderly people driving dangerously and killing people at times. We've got idiotic people on cell phones. We've got people who think they are stunt drivers weaving in and out of traffic. We've got reckless teenagers.

If none of them have to report what horrible drivers they are, then why should the OP report anything?

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm terrified of getting pulled over. I usually don't drive much (especially if I am anxious). When I do drive, I tend to be overly cautious and I'm that person who drives 34 mph in a 35mph zone (sorry, guys). I prefer to get rides or carpool and offer gas money whenever possible but I do still have a car and am very afraid of driving anywhere. Most of the time, my car just sits.

Thanks to all who offered advice. Like I said, I know I tend to overthink things but that's just part of the way I am, so regardless, I still needed to think it through to some kind of conclusion.