Traffic, anxiety

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Is it just me that is, at the very least, annoyingly disturbed by the flow of traffic, and at times when cars speed up, motorbikes pass by or - the absolute worst - sirens show up, it feels as if an injection of pure chaotic adrenaline is forced upon me?

I hate traffic very much, heavy traffic seems like an extremely hostile and very ugly environment. It's one of the worst sensory issue situations I can think of. I find it's a bit easier if there is some cover from the traffic (like trees planted on a green space between sidewalk and road), if there's some distance from the sidewalk to the traffic (like when there's a bit of grass between sidewalk and traffic), and/or when the sidewalk isn't hemmed in by the road on one side and walls on the other (eg when there are large lawns or fields bordering the other side of the sidewalk).

Absolute worst scenario is high vehicular traffic area with lots of pedestrians, where the sidewalk is immediately next to the road and walls are immediately next to the sidewalk.

Last edited by edgewaters on 26 May 2012, 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I hate traffic too. I used to live on a main road and if I opened the windows I couldn't hear the TV it was no noisy and I hated it.

Yep because I want people to go. I am at my worst when I am on a quest for something I want to buy and I am not sure the store has it. I want to get there as quickly as possible but the traffic seems worse on days like this. There's more vehicles on the road and longer waits at traffic lights and when the light finally turns green, cars and trucks will not hurry through the intersection. On days I am in no hurry they zoom through and honk their horns at me if I hesitate a second. On days I am unsure, they take their own sweet time. It drives me crazy not knowing if something is at the store or not and suddenly I feel like I have to buy it and if I don't hurry up and get there, someone will buy the very last one in stock.

Yes and I'm not even the one driving... I also get anxiety from trying to cross the stree where only nonverbal communication is used

SilkySifaka, is it true that one would need to be filthy rich in order to live in a sane cul-de-sac or such? Do you think it's unfair that people, who generally have less resources and possibly don't drive (my case) have to live on busy streets, and others who sometimes have multiple cars live in cosy side streets? I personally think it's an injustice.

I thought it was just me...

I always have to close my eyes when others are driving me around because I tend to get extremely frustrated with how slow traffic is going, and how slow we are moving, even if we are going 65mph. I just think about how much faster we could be moving if others weren't driving so slow, if there weren't speed limits, etc., which I find illogical, but it happens anyway, and the frustration builds.

I dislike being anywhere near traffic as a pedestrian though. If there are fast cars going by it can be jarring every time they pass. With slow ones I'm annoyed by the smells, the noise (which goes for pretty much all motorized vehicles), and just with the people in them perhaps looking at me, etc. I feel very vulnerable walking next to traffic.

Yes in this country you would have to be quite rich. It probably isn't fair, but such is life unfortunately. I don't own my home, we just rent. Our apartment now is quite small but it is quieter than where I have lived before. I don't drive either, Mr Silky can drive but we can't afford a car.

I once lived in an area that was quite poor and there were hardly any cars there as people could not afford them, so during the day it was quiet traffic-wise. However at night there were often problems with joyriders which meant lots of screeching tyres and police sirens. I'm thankful that I don't live there any more!

The more I read this forum the more I know I have the condition.

Traffic causes me very bad stress.

These are the types of vehicles that make me want to avoid walking along a busy street:-

Cars with loud engines (eg, Subarus - may look nice but my ears don't like the sound)
Vans/pick-up trucks (the twats in them tend to bib a lot when they pass)
Motorbikes (unless very quiet)
Ambulances, z-cars, fire engines (if they have blue lights flashing because that means the siren can sound at any minute)
Taxis (they are always pulling out suddenly and almost knocking you over when you're trying to cross the road near them)
Buses in FirstGroup (FirstGroup drivers always get aggressive if you get in their way)
Teenage boys on bikes (they always make some ret*d noise at me as they fly by, yeah as if I'm going to be impressed by a random 13-year-old brat)

I don't drive, so I don't know how I'd react in auto traffic, but I do know that heavy foot traffic drives me nuts, especially when people decide to stop randomly, walk slowly, or otherwise make trying to get around more frustrating than it should be. I can get a little panicky in such situations (chaotic scenes in general tend to freak me out). Argh.

Never driven. Can't. Odd moment in high school, everything is wrong for real. Roads, cars, highways, the ultimate insane. Terrifying machines. I can be the passenger, not noticing traffic at all, just chattering away to the annoyance of the driver, no prize there. Cars don't make sense to my senses. Now I live somewhere cars have no meaning.

I don't particularly like traffic however its a lot worse when someone is holding up traffic when the road is pretty clear.