How are you with driving?

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@OP I commend you for pushing yourself. It can be stressful sometimes but for the most part I get to go where I want cause I'm alone a lot. If I want to go somewhere I just do it. I'm not very good at driving at night but I manage even if I have to make a u-turn or two, I'll get there. We do use GPS and have maps in the car. Our longest road trip was at least 4,000 plus miles. I have driven 900 miles by myself. This time I have to rent a car (which itself feels like a big production)from the airport and the highway in Vegas is pretty crazy. I was forced to drive when I was about 14 because I was the smallest and the others would have to load the truck. A really old 1950's truck. I remember it stalling and my dad just exploding and yelling at me because we had to push it to get it started in the first place. I got out an ran back to the house and of course cried like forever. I didn't really care to drive because of that and didn't get my license until I was 25. I had a husband at the time that didn't like going to places to satisfy my special interests and I got sick of just sitting around and not living. My son, thank goodness has not acquired that gene, since he has taken several car trips to Detroit and even been to Chicago twice. I just recently got a car for my son that is manual stick and I haven't ever really drove that in about 22yrs. He has never driven stick at all. But we just agreed its an adventure and we will eventually figure it out. I just accept that things might not be smooth when learning anything but I should eventually learn it even if I don't master it.

Last edited by curlyfry on 09 Jun 2011, 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't mind driving, I actually enjoy it if I have a nice clear sunny day and there isn't any traffic.

I'm lucky, I live in a rural area, traffic never gets real bad here. I won't drive in big cities and avoid freeways at all costs. I have no sense of direction. People don't believe me, they tell me that I just need to drive around that area more. Last saturday, I was at a park in the town I grew up in and have lived in for 31 years. I headed off to the local book store that has been there my whole life (and is only a block away) and I went the wrong way. I still can't drive by myself to the only town around here with decent stores because I can't get from costco to the mall by myself even though I've driven it many many times and been a passenger even more.

And I HATE hate hate HATE merging. Especially if it has to be done quickly, like 2 lanes turn onto a road and have to merge right away.

Traffic lights are problematic as well. I get stress if approaching a green light, because what if it turns yellow.

Ice, slush, snow. OMG

My mom doesn't understand any of this. I had to go up an ice covered hill in my crappy-in-the-snow car and the tires were slipping and she was yammering away about nothing and I asked her to be quiet. That pissed her off.

Driving is very stressful for me. I'm good at reading maps but if there is the slightest confusing aspect to the map I get totally bewildered and lost. The other day I had to go to the doctor and the road the office was located on was also a service road to a highway. I couldn't tell from the map if they were the same road or just very close together. It took me an hour to figure it out, driving off course and then in cricles, for a trip that should have taken 15 minutes.

You sound like myself! I also have no sense of direction. I used to do test drives for places that I hadn't been to before so that I wouldn't be late. I remember living in Connecticut, and finding that I could take the commuter train into New York city to see a play. So the day before, I found out how to get to the proper place to park my car, and practiced driving there. Then I was able to go out that evening, knowing exactly where I was supposed to park and then take the train. The city was easy; just take a cab to wherever. I do have a good driving record, though. I once received a discount on my insurance for having a perfect driving record.

I didn't learn to drive until I was in my thirties, though. I had taken a few lessons at age 18, and the instructor gave up on me. He said that I was daydreaming and not paying attention to what I was doing. I had apparently just sailed through a stop sign without noticing. I kept getting distracted by him depressing his brake pedal, and then I just waited for him to apply the brakes. It was very confusing.

Can't drive, won't drive. There's too many things to think of (maybe an automatic would be better, but manuals are the norm here). I'm also hopeless with mirrors; even if I'm doing something with my hair, I just can't move my hands in the right direction. And we don't have long straight roads here - there would be lots of driving through towns, with road signs, traffic lights, pedestrians, roundabouts, one way streets, other cars, etc. I've got very quick reactions, but I think I would overreact to cars coming close, etc. Most of all, many of the other drivers are pretty idiotic.

I hate driving, but since I live in a sh***y rural town, I have to. I have had my learner's permit for nearly a year now and I need to get it renewed. The last time I took a driving lesson was nearly 10 months ago. I was involved in my school's fall play and travelled a bit. I hate driving on crappy winter roads in Wisconsin. And I don't have the patience to drive. I prefer flying, bicycling, public transportation and walking. That's why when I'm out of college, I'm moving to Austin or New York. Having a car in a big city is expensive and impractical.

I hate driving. I finally got my license a year ago and I still hate it. I haven't driven a car at all in the last 6 months.

I'm horrified when behind the wheel that I'll get in an accident or hurt someone. And it's hard for me to keep up with everything going on around me. I'm a horrible judge of distance: I've almost taken out several fences before and I always miss the parking spot when trying to park the car (either too close or too far away). I can't go in reverse because I turn the wheel the wrong way. And I'm scared to death of getting lost by myself...I've lived in the same town my entire life and I can't even go to the grocery store without getting confused. And parallel parking? I haven't been stupid enough to try that since the drivers test last year.

And I've been told by my parents and my last driving instructor that I take the rules in the driving manual too seriously...but I don't know what to do otherwise.

It's horrible. An 18 year old is supposed to be able to drive wherever they need to, but I can't.

I hate having to have a ride everywhere. It's embarassing. But everytime I have to drive, it's horrible and I want to just start crying. It's too much and I can't make my parent's understand. They don't get it at all. They pretty much think I'm too stupid or too lazy to drive a car.

I'm still learning how to drive. I suck at it.

I tried to learn driving at 18, but didn't really master it until my 30's, with the help of a really good teacher!

I don't drive, never have, probably never will. And that sucks sometimes because where I live everything is so far apart. I'm very lucky I live within walking distance of a small shopping center with a grocery store so I can buy food and stuff without always depending on others for transportation. But all the really decent places to go, especially places in the summer like the beaches and parks, are much too far away. The transit system in my town stinks. The arrival times for the buses are at least an hour apart, a cab is too expensive, and the buses don't even go to the places I've mentioned in the summer, only tourists get to go on tourist buses which are way better because I got to ride on one once or twice. My parents live really far down in the country where I grew up and when I visit on holidays they have to come and get me. But even if I could learn to drive, I can't afford a car. I don't have a paying job to get one. *deepest shame*. I'm 37 and I feel like I'm too dependent on my parents and other people to get around just so I have something else to do besides sit at home and play computer games until my eyes roll out of their head.

I love driving just sooo much! I can do it for hours and hours and hours and eeendless hours. Especially when it gets dark and there are all those lights (on the cars, on the streets... like that). Once I drove for 14 hours, from 6pm to 8am without a break. I just didn't get tired and enjoyed the many lights that are on the streets at night.

My biggest problem is that I have no sense of direction. I mean really zero. I even get lost inside buildings, not only huge buildings like schools but even normal houses and flats.
So I'm happy there are some good navigation systems for cars. I got one with a big display and I turn off the sound (disturbing, I get startlet every time it suddenly speaks!) and just look at the map, it shows where I am and the map is "looking" into the same direction as I am, which is absolutely necessary for me to not get confused. Then there is written, like "turn right in 2 miles" so I know where to go next long enough before I have to change direction.

Then there is my bad short time memory and this being always a bit confused about things... one time I drove without releasing the breaks but didn't notice it... until after around 15 minutes of driving I noticed the breaks didn't work any more at all (had gotten too hot) and as I was just entering a town this proved to be quite a problem! Another time I drove off backwards and fast without closing the passenger door and the open door hit a street lamp and fell off, so I had to put it into my car and drive home with a door missing, hoping there wouldn't be a police car on the way to see me... Oh, and two times I confused left and right and drove on the wrong side of the street.

Except for that I'm not a bad driver as long as I want to drive normally. If I'm alone on the streets I like to drive fast and make wheels squeak in curves and everything. Yeah, I know this is not very responsible, shame on me and everything, but well... I've been driving for 6 years now almost every day and I never had an accident (not counting the door-incident).

I love driving. I can find my way around and learn how to get somewhere the first time I go.

I am a good, safe driver. BUT i have absolutely no sense of direction and rely on a GPS always, even when I have been somewhere a few times before. The invention of the GPS saved my life. I get lost easily on hikes but the handheld gps's are hard for me to figure out. But I have an aspie male friend who can find his way anywhere.

Perhaps it's just me, but it seems to me that drivers have gotten more aggressive in recent years. Driving around my city, I often fear for my life and I try to choose routes that avoid the busiest streets. And I actually observe the speed limit! I swear I'm the only person in the entire state of Arizona who does, and you wouldn't believe how absolutely enraged people become when they have to slow down behind me. I am routinely screamed at, cursed, spit at, have things thrown at me. Many times people have passed me on the shoulder of the road.

But the worst of all is when drivers feel like they have to demonstrate their displeasure at me by practically driving up my rear bumper. Not long ago a trucker on the interstate came up so close behind me that I almost drove off the highway to avoid him. I was terrified.

So anyway ... yeah, driving is very stressful.

Yes, it has changed over the years. What makes driving particularly terrifying for me is the way people will chat on cellphones instead of paying attention to driving. A few weeks ago my fiance and I were rear-ended because this stupid woman was veering all over the road while she talked on her phone. We passed her so that we could get into another lane, but after doing so we couldn't because there was a lot of traffic. And then she slammed right into our car. Thank God we weren't going fast!

And of course I agree about the aggressive drivers who never want to be responsible for their driving. In our state, there is no law against cell phone usage while driving. This really pisses me off. I don't understand why people have to socialize while in their cars!

I know. There are so many angry drivers out on the road. It makes it really hard for me to learn when people are constantly riding my bumper. I'm going the speed limit and if they don't like it, they can pass me. :/