Driving too fast

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From what i read many aspies drive very slowly, lacking confidence, taking a long time at junctions etc.

Does anyone do the oposite?

In order to keep my mind focused on a task i have to give it something to focus on. I find most of the time i drive too fast. I am doing this as a challenge, I'm making sure i have to keep my focus on the road and driving to maintain my speed and safety. I focus hugely on awareness, observation, conditions, the road ahead, i know where every bend and every pot hole is and challenge myself to miss them. I will try to match my speed to a car in front so i reach them exactly when i need to turn off or overtake. On the motorway (3 or 4 lanes) i will be watching every single other car and try to predict exactly who's going to pull out when based on their speed and distance or their positioning on the road or the type of car they have and a thousand over factors. When crossing lane i will try to time it to avoid the cats eyes (bump-bump). I plan ahead and change lane to ensure i'm taking the quickest route (driving round the outside of a bend is slow! think of an athletics track, lame 1 vs lame . When taking a long sweeping corner i will see how close i can stay to the inside white line as it's the quickest most efficient route. I do all this and more.

I'm sure this all sounds dangerous but i do have a very healthy amount of my attention focused on the dangers and i am far more observant than almost anyone. I've not yet had an accident. For the record i drive extremely slowly in residential areas and even slower past schools (it's fairly obvious it's impossible to predict a child). It's also not about the top speed, it's about speed through corners and predicting traffic to, for example, join from a slip road without slowing down. I am extremely courtious and if i found myself in the wrong lane or i had left it too late to take a turning i would go past and drive around, rather than trying to squeeze in and cut someone up.

I can only do this when on my own for obvious reasons but I often tell people what's going to happen when i'm a passenger with them and they don't understand how i know or why i bother to pay that much attention, or tell me it's impossible to predict what people will do, which ofc it is, it's all about percentages and being prepared.

The other thing i do in the car is play extremely loud music. I've recently (again) spent a fortune on a sound system for my car just so i can drive with the music so loud it blocks everything else out, which prevents me thinking over life when driving and also helps my extreme driving focus.

I enjoy driving fast and do have a fast car, but it's only recently occured to me that it's not the speed or the physical challenge, it's the mental challenge i enjoy, plus i'm using it as a coping mechanism to avoid complete distraction.

I'm a little scared admiting this as i'm an experienced forum user in general and i know there's a chance i'm going to get a lot of negative posts about being selfish, dangerous etc. Hopfully there's more constructive ones Maybe people have alternative, safer ways to keep their focus on the driving and provide a challenge to their mind. I do also like to calculate average speed vs distance to travel and keep a running check of how i'm doing average speed wise as i go past each sign showing miles left. I measure my journey into work also and know to the minute where i should be at what time to know what time i will arrive or if i need to drive a bit faster etc.

Well there it is, I'm just wondering if there's a whole bunch of aspies (my AHDH is a large part of this too I'm sure) out there driving around intelectualising their driving experience like a cross between einstein and michael schumacher

Drive fast? Hell I do that with my Ford SUV so you ain't the only one. I've been watching my parent's drive for as long as I can remember that I pretty much memorized how to drive safely. Even the DMV had to admit this.
I've been driving the interstates constantly for 2.5 years, taking backroads for a little adventure while driving. Tis how I ended up on a new hobby of vehicle photography.
Of course I'm fully aware of the dangers and hazards on the road. I sometimes have my music on a little loud but I always switch it off when an emergency vehicle on a call's headed my way. I never talk on my cell while driving; I let it ring, pull over at the next exit and check the call.

Some people on here are like you while others aren't when it comes to driving. But then again, it applies to anybody, not just aspies.

Random question: what kind of car do you drive?

Actually, I had that issue learning to drive school bus. Most normal people would be scared of the bus and drive slower than the speed limit to compensate. I however was not scared and as such, needed to check my speed to make sure I was not speeding.

I can't drive while on a phone call, if i ever have in the past through emergency i drive at about 50mph in the inside line following a lorry. I simply can't concentrate on the two things at once. Even ifi'm trying to eat a chocolate bar i have to slow down and back off and concentrate.

I do enjoy the "pure" driving experience of driving at 4am with empty roads, but i also enjoy the interaction with other cars. Pedestrians can not be predicted and thus i assume the worst and slow right down.

Mentioning not knowing why you drive too fast, as well as the reasons mentioned i know part of mine is my drive for efficiency. I do this to a rediculous level, for example i will get impatient when held up by someone, then drive faster after i get past them, knowing i'm going to arrive 20 mins early and have to sit and wait.

Quick on the bends and round-a-bouts. I count down the change in traffic lights (3 seconds from the cross traffic going red the through traffic will go green). I will often slam on the breaks to avoid running an amber/red light at some intersections where I know the change is quick. I have a habit of going over the speed limit but I watch the road so intensely that i will spot police/ auto-cameras before I get into range. On merge points I will always drop back at least sufficient distance to get two cars in (actual distance depends on speed of traffic). Will try to work out the time to my exit based on speed and distance, recalculating as I pass each sign- will do this on country trips too. I also count the number of cars with a similar colour to mine (mine is burgundy so I will also count maroon, etc but not red). statistically, certain types and colours of car are more prone to accidents (Dark SUVs or 4WDs for instance) so I will look for these in traffic ahead. More generally I look out for the traffic around me; eratic behaviour by another driver and I will always 'know' where that car is until it has gone well out of sight either before or behind me.

No I always drive at the PERFECT speed! It's the other cars that are often either too slow or too fast...

If I'm on the highway, I have trouble regulating my speed and tend to go too fast. If I have cruise control then I don't have a problem.

If I'm driving in a residential area, I end up driving a little slower than I should just because I'm always on high alert for people jumping out in front of my car or cars pulling out in front of me.

I prefer to drive fast. The 10-15 mile drive from my house to town is very aggravating to me because it is heavily patrolled and the speed limit annoyingly low. I had a blast on my last road trip through Montana and Colorado because I was able to hit 90mph and not stand out!

On the other hand, if I am driving and space out a bit, my speed actually drops quite a bit. I have caught myself doing 20 under the limit on occasion when spaced.

Not in the car, on the bike is a different matter,



That wasn't on the road, the top road speed was 156mph on a German Autobahn of course .

Depending on the corner, depends on how you should take it. Taking EVERY corner as tight as possible us suicide at the wrong speed.

I don't know where all this "What if a child were to step out..." business comes from but I never had a problem with the roads as a child. I drive at the maximum speed possible by law. And many occasions, I will keep my speed at that maximum regardless of what is coming up, unless the turn is too sharp.

You can't get any more efficient than that

I drive faster than the speed limit often. It's not so much that I want to go fast, it's just that most of the time, the speed limits just seem too slow, and I can go faster while still maintaining control of the vehicle.

That's how I got slapped with a massive speeding ticket on senior prom night, after which my parents kicked me off their insurance. I haven't driven since. I don't really need to drive in-town in Laramie, though. My bike gets me to most places.

I once managed to keep up with an Escort RS2000 in a car smaller than it (Renault Clio 1.4RT 5 door) with passenger. That was fun. Until I decided enough was enough and reduced the throttle

i drive rapidly. i do not drive that fast in the city any more because i have lost my license 3 times and it costs a lot of money.

in the country, i let the car cruise at the speed it goes with my foot resting on the accelerator. i have a mercedes 560sel (5.6 litre V8)so the weight of my foot is enough to make it cruise at about 180kph (112 mph) on the flat. up hill it slows to about 165 kph and down hill it reaches maybe 200 kph.
i do not press the accelerator, i just let my foot rest on it.
if i have heavy shoes on it can be quite a lot faster.

here is a short clip of me driving in the australian countryside.
at the beginning, i had my foot off the accelerator because i thought i saw a police car going the other way, but when i looked in the rear view mirror i realized it could not turn around anc chase me because the road is divided and i let the weight of my foot rest again on the throttle.
the speed ranges from 145 kph (while my foot was off) to 190 kph after i relaxed. down the hill it reached 215.

some people have said that it does not look that fast, but that is because the scenery is not right next to the road. the white lines in the road give more of an idea of the speed
i have not driven it faster than 240 kph because my tires are only rated to 220 kph.




[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ6wQuXAgAY[/youtube]