Driving

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So tomorrow(I guess later today as it is 12:28) I will be starting Driver's Ed. I am a little apprehensive towards the subject as I fear that my anxiety along with my lack of fine motor skills will get the better of me when I am driving. I feel like I am going to look at one thing and stary scrutinizing it as I often find myself doing when I am a passenger in a car. I was hoping some of you can give me some tips on how to focus on driving itself.

I think everybody gets the pre-driving jitters when they're just starting out. I may have had plenty of anxiety at age 16, but admittedly I never had any issue with motor skills...however, if you're driving an automatic, it should really be no problem whatsoever.

Once you get a feel for it, it will become second nature. I doubt you'll need tips on focusing, because I have to imagine it'd be pretty difficult not to focus on driving when you're actually behind the wheel.

I can relate. I finally passed on the 4th attempt in my late 20s. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have started much earlier, and started right back after each failure instead of waiting months or years. I used to live mostly in places where I didn't "need" a car because public transport was fairly decent, but only after I got my license did I appreciate how good it feels to not have to depend on anyone for getting around.

The hard part for me was keeping track of everything going on on the road, especially at junctions, roundabouts etc. Controlling the car was the smaller problem, and became second nature relatively quickly.

I would say the instructor's personality is important. My 1st instructor was definitely not the best match for me - he was sort of like King of the NTs. His main job - the one he cared about - was as a football coach... you get the picture. I guess he meant well but I never felt comfortable around him, always thought he saw me as a big loser. So, try to shop around if you can. Also, if you're in one of those places where a friend or parent can act as your instructor in a normal car (i.e. no 2nd set of pedals), that could be a good option to get some practice. I know it helped me a lot.