Can many of you here drive? I can't

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I love driving. Loved cars for as long as I can recall. Fell in love with Ferrari at first sight. Porsche, too. As a kid, I figured, if Darth Vader had a car, it'd be a Lamborghini Countach.
Sociable put it quite nicely. Stuff like power steering and variable this and semi- that and especially 'Active' anything all tend to isolate you from what the vehicle's doing in reaction to road conditions, driver input, etc. One vehicle I particularly enjoyed was a little old Nissan pickup I owned. Manual transmission, not enough engine to squeal the tires, but enough to get you and your stuff from A-B. Maintenance was pretty simple (not much in the way of automatic anything) and despite a lot of the crap I put it through it held up quite well. The reason we have all that active this and that is that a) a lot of people want to be comfortable and sit in a mobile sofa, and b) many many people do not know how to drive well. SemiActiveVariableStuff covers their ass, driving-wise, by (sort of) ignoring half of what the driver's telling it to do and instead reacting to what the vehicle's doing, etc. It also helps BMW drivers retain the delusion that they're in a commercial where they're just about to either catch up to or escape from the bad guys.
So, yeah.. love driving.
But there's also that fear. I've been in roughly 15-20 car accidents, the majority of which I was a passenger. We got hit so hard once that our minivan spun 360 and I was thrown out and almost got hit by the truck behind us. Those that I was the cause of were either under 10mph or were me going into a ditch or hitting a stump or something. Like someone said earlier, I can often feel where the other cars are in relation to me. That's great on a track, but in traffic? Nervewracking. Got all these people around you that you don't know from Adam and you have no idea how well they drive or what they're going to do next... and I never cease to be amazed at how appallingly stupid so much of it is. I've done some not-so-bright things with cars but I've never killed or injured anyone or even come close.
Navigation I don't have a big problem with, but I find it hard to do drive and navigate unfamiliar areas at the same time. One or the other, not both.
All that said, I haven't driven in 8 years or so. Haven't really needed to.

I didn't pass the test until I was 35. I think I'm fairly competent and comfortable behind the
wheel now,which is something I never envisaged when I struggled at first.Can't say I really
enjoy driving though and prefer travelling by train if it's convenient.

I am not going to get a license in the near future, if at all. When travelling by car with others, I get provoked by other cars "honking" in queues and such. I have to really concentrate on not leaving the car to go and beat up the "honker".

So I'll have to see if this changes in the future if I am ever going to get a license...

I have a motorcycle and a car.

My bike is a BMW K1200S.

Varoom.

I have no troubles at all. I'm good at driving.
When learning, it was a bit so-so, because I didn't have very good perception on what was going on behind or to the sides of me.
But since I am gifted with a disregard for my own safety and inverse fear*, it didn't matter that much.
My motto for driving is: "Put the pedal to the metal and try to avoid the obstacles."



* Dangerous things, like being in a car crash or other life threatening situations don't make me flinch, but something unimportant such as choosing the wrong door or saying something upsetting can make me panic.

I drive, but it's not my favorite thing to do, especially if the conditions aren't perfect. I can identify with alot of the driving situations people here have said they don't like, like big city driving. The good news is, I can drive stick shift and have never driven anything else. It took me awhile to master but now it's second nature. Also, the more I drive, the more confident and better at handling adverse situations I get.
Still, I'd love a world where we didn't depend on cars...I can't understand how they work, which is frustrating and expensive when they break down. Sigh... If only equines were faster than cars. I'd much rather travel using one than a car.

I am comfortable and capable of handling anything when driving: snow, ice, highways, rain, residential areas, freeways, etc. I used to hate it, but when I got used to it about a year ago, it no longer bothered me. I've learned not to let other drivers bother me.

However, if I had to fix a car, I'd be totally lost.

A YEAR ago? Give it a few years, THEN decide!

When the rain gives you near 0 visibility and cars stop EVERYWHERE, and the snow isn't cleaned up right and turns to ice, THEN you get to have LOTS of fun! (sarc) I ONCE did about a 220 degree spin! I was going down an offramp with a huge curve in it, and the tires lost traction. Now THAT was fun! Another 3 feet, and I would have been in trouble. Of course, I got out with NO damage(not even a scratch), and I was fine, and it doesn't often happen, but.... Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable, etc... But I don't think I would make it sound as you did. Especially not after just one year.

Steve

I love driving it's one of the things that calm me down. I like it especially at night after midnight when I can't sleep which is often I go for a ride with my dog. I don't really like driving in crowded areas with tight parking but most of that is I have a large pick up truck great for work, sucks to park.

I like driving, except when thick costal fog rolls in at night, making the visibility really low. I had that happen about a couple of weeks ago, where parts of the freeway were covered by fog. I just drove slower going home than I normally would, and made it home without any problems. I'm also more cautious when it rains, although one nice thing about Southern California is that you don't have to worry about ice on the roads unless you're in the mountains where it snows.

Other than that, driving is nice, especially since to get most places, you have to drive because the public transportation doesn't go everywhere, and it stops at a certain time at night. As I get off work at midnight, driving is a necessity as the busses heading my direction stop running shortly before I get off work.

I'm the best driver in my family,but it's too nerve racking for me.


-SpaceCase

No license. Would take long-term training to teach me how to drive--months of daily practice, probably. I'm trying to qualify for that sort of thing now, but it's hard because America doesn't like helping out non-citizens... despite that once I have a car I can drive, and the college degree I know I have the IQ to get, I can pay them back a jillion times over in taxes.

*sigh* Stupid governments.

Callista,

I AM an american citizen! I practically have a BIRTH RIGHT! I think it is the LAW to provide drivers ed for highschool. I was in California, and they passed a proposition called Prop 13! Because of that, the government went on strike! EVERYONE cut back or stopped claiming they didn't have enough money. I had to have PRIVATE drivers ED! There is ALSO a government sanctioned conspiracy here that people that don't have drivers ed pay higher insurance rates!

So it is NOT simply because you aren;t a citizen. I had the SAME problem.

BTW for those that don't know or remember, prop 13 cut back on property taxes.

Steve

Yes, I have the inverse fear as well! Thought nothing of being alone in my car at 2am on the freeway. But when I had to speak to the tow-truck guy? Argh!

I have no depth perception whatsoever and have been driving for nearly ten years. It is just an obstacle that can be overcome.

When I started to drive I was terrified, and in my first year or so had one accident (I slid into a guard rail on an icy day) and several near accidents. I had alot of trouble managing my speed. I'm much better however now. It is much easier to drive when there is very little traffic, or it is during the day. It is most difficult when it is busy traffic at night. My eyes have adjusted to avoid focusing to much on any one bright object while driving (my vision kind of drifts around). If the radio is off sometimes I will operate almost on "autopilot" without thinking.

On occasion I will get overwhelmed (sometimes I will get a headache when this happens) and I will have to lower my head towards the steering wheel in an effort to avoid any lights from the buildings on the side of the road.

I think I´m a pretty good driver and well I should be as I need it for my job. I took my driving license when I was 18 and passed even if I had a few awkward moments during my lessons.