Driving a Car

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I have a driver's license but I don't drive. I don't think I remember how to drive as I haven't driven a car for so long. I will keep renewing the license because once I lose it, I don't think I'll ever be able to get it back.

I was lucky with the driving test. The assessor was a rather lenient non-scary kind of man. I can't believe he let me pass because I forgot to use the seat belt, tried to start with the handbrake still on, stopped the oncoming car when I tried to turn right (and I didn't even notice that) and parked the car not very close to the curb at the end of the assessment.

I get stressed out when I have to turn right at the intersection. When the traffic has to merge, I'm worried that other people may not let me in. I'm also hopeless with multitasking, which is very dangerous when driving. I can't handle the aggressive drivers that may harass me on the road. There are more on the list that make me not want to drive.

I've been driving for 55 years, and in that time, I have driven cars, trucks, motorcycles, even a small bus. I can also drive a vehicle with a stick shift. I've never had any issues with my motor skills.

Driving (or, rather, NOT driving) used to be the biggest source of misery and self-loathing in my life. I took Driver's Ed in high school and somehow managed to pass the test in spite of being a terrible driver and having very little self-confidence behind the wheel. I was never very comfortable driving on the freeway and tended to go WAY out of my way to avoid it. I had a lot of stupid little accidents that were completely my fault because of not being able to judge distances or angles very well (things like running into the mailbox or into parked cars in parking lots.) Making mistakes like this were horrible for my self-esteem because it was evident to me that even the biggest morons on the planet, all around me, were very capable of driving around in cars, and yet I seemed NOT to be. Then I went away to college and didn't NEED to drive (it was a very pedestrian & cycling-friendly campus), and so I didn't drive at all-- for 5 years-- and that sort of sealed it. The next time I attempted to drive (visiting my parents on break from school) I basically had a panic attack before I even backed out of the driveway, and after that I totally gave up. Then I didn't drive for oh... about 10 years. And hated myself for it the entire time. I felt like a total failure at life. I was severely limited by my inability to drive and sometimes felt like a prisoner in the house. This became even more true when my husband and I moved to Los Angeles. (And of course, this made it even more difficult to start up driving again-- yay, take baby-steps in driving in L.A.? No thank you...)

What finally got me to start driving again was having kids. I still avoided it as long as possible, but then when my oldest started Kindergarten I *had* to because there is no bus service here-- you HAVE to drive your kids to and from school if you aren't in walking distance. So, I had to bite the bullet and get behind the wheel again. When I first started it was absolutely the most scary feeling I've ever had, more than surgery or childbirth or other things that are pretty intense. But I pushed through it because it wasn't about ME anymore... it was about wanting to be a good parent. I think the guilt helped.

I still don't drive on the freeway (but maybe could get up the nerve to try, if I didn't live in Los Angeles.) Being able to drive again has raised my self-esteem *enormously* and has given me freedoms I really missed... .really simple things like being able to go the grocery store without having to ask someone to give me a ride. I also enjoy having the "alone time" in the car, to listen to the music I want to listen to, without anyone else around.

I know other people have been able to make peace with not driving, but for me it was a HUGE problem and almost made me feel suicidal for a while. It was a serious issue.

I drove and was a full licence holder for eighteen years in another country, but don't currently have a car or a licence in this country. When I was 17 I took lessons and failed my road test three times. I was timid and lacked assertion in my driving, and just couldn't get it together.

Flash forward to age 32 and I'm emigrated to another country. My marriage had just fallen apart and he was the driver in the household. I'm stranded in a very car-oriented city where getting about any other way is incredibly inconvenient, so much so that even job applications for jobs that had nothing to do with driving stated that you must be a driver (just to reliably get to work every day!).

Having failed my test miserably three times when a teenager, I now pass this road test with flying colors! I was relieved as all hell. I LOVED driving. I just loved to drive. I loved the operation of the machine. It's all LOGICAL. It's a beautiful thing. And I loved the freedom and autonomy of being able to go anywhere anytime. The city I was living in was also really good and safe for driving -- big straight roadways and grid intersections with carefully controlled lights so that everyone knew what they were doing. My current city is horrible for driving. Crowded and irregular roads.

I have depth perception problems on staircases, but oddly not when driving or parking -- I did fine with those. I'm also lousy at multi-tasking in everything in life except for driving. Somehow I managed to split my attention.

I won't say driving isn't stressful though. Even though I loved it and managed to do it competently, it IS stressful to have to constantly keep your attention of everything at once. But it's also exhilarating to be driving well and finding that you're doing it well and safely and smoothly. And nothing beats driving down a nice clear freeway on a sunny day. I'm a girl but I kind of loved cars and loved driving.

I got back to this country and failed my road test here again miserably (they don't accept my other country's licence). So I'm licenced to drive in one country and told to piss off and get on my bike in this one.

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Yep I've been driving since 2005 my folks wanted me to wait until my motor skills were more mature (for lack of a better word) While I do like the added independence that owing a car brings however I do have problems while driving my brain is going into overtime my brain is saying there's cars all over the place! Is the light going to turn red do I have enough time to go through?! do I speed up or slow down? Is there a cop running radar? Am I slowing down other cars?!?! The Strobe lights from the cops on the side of the road are killing my eyes!

I've had 1 speeding ticket (doing five over in a rich section) Running a red (didn't have time to slow down) and one at fault accident (treading paint) tho my brother whom is NT has me beat in terms of accidents by a ratio of 3:1 lol

But there's a lot of judgment calls when I drive and for the most point I do ok the only real issue I have is judging distance between me and the cars in front of me which is one of the reasons why I don't parallel park or try not to travel during rush hour.

I learned to drive as a teenager in an old land rover with bull bars, first in a field, then around my house and had most of my accidents then, drove into trees, knocked a few lumps out of the house etc, I loved it. I got my full licence at eighteen and I am competent except for city driving and directions... I get lost so often, even with my sat nav, being in the correct lane, will there be a fly light, does anyone understand merging, stop tailgating me, overtaking cyclists... I much prefer long distance driving outside of rush hour.

I learned to drive when I was 18. I was in drivers ed because I had just moved to Illinois and needed to take drivers ed in order to graduate. I found that was the best way to learn--- I had so much trouble for the past three years because the other individuals who tried to teach me always freaked out-- which ended up making me that much worse. Since then, I have become a pretty good driver and have actually learned how to drive a manual (this past summer). Basically for me, a good teacher was what really made the difference.