Driving and Autism/Aspergers

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I had a lot of difficulty learning to drive, didn't get my license until I was 21. Now I drive most days... But I'm getting tired of certain relatives thinking my van has a sign on it saying "free taxi". I really need to make a gas money rule because I'm getting tired of being taken advantage of...

I got my license after passing my road test at 20. I was eager to learn how to drive when I got my learner's permit but once I got my license, I sort of stopped enjoying it. I currently only drive if I have to which ends up being a few times a week typically. I'm not very confident on the road and I always say I'm a horrible driver but I'm actually probably pretty decent. My obsession with rule-following is definitely something that shows when I drive and I do tend to get confused when drivers do things that aren't appropriate (like running stop signs or cutting me off) but I always manage fortunately.

Living here, I drive to a city about once a month for health food, and combine errands to visit my friend. When I was last homeless, I lived in my car and drove almost every day, looking for a house I could afford. I enjoy driving, but I hate wasting gas, given the ongoing climate crisis.
I got my professional grade licence at 16 yrs + 2 weeks, driving a standard transmission on ice, and was very keen on sporty driving. Soon after, I was into a 30-yr period of using a bicycle for most things, including going to my taxi driving job for a few years. I got a car again after moving to a rural area, and switched from sporty to super-economy driving the day the 1st gulf war began. It is just as much fun, actually. I once had my engine off for over a mile, staying no more than a car length from ideal in freeway traffic. Now, I only speed up to the legal limit to avoid delaying trucks until they can pass. My early practice at sliding around has kept me out of at least two serious accidents.

I have never driven a car in my life despite being almost 29 years old. Of course I have no driving licence.

I take three psychiatric medicines now: paroxetine, sulpiride, quetiapine (regularly, every day). Meds may be a problem when you want to drive a car. Driving when getting them can be dangerous. I might have problems with driving also due to severe OCD.

I selected the last option. The only exception was during one period several years ago. I was really struggling with depression etc., and went through a brief time where I couldn't drive. I'd start to have a panic attack, and felt like I would get lost or stranded or something as soon as I started driving. It was just too much for me at that time. I also had a year or so long period where I couldn't drive because I had a seizure, and you're not to drive for 6 months after having a seizure (to make sure you don't have more), and I had a few. I actually had a seizure while driving once, this was very scary and dangerous. Luckily neither I nor anyone else was hurt. I am not epileptic, but have been on Seroquel for a long time, which lowers one's seizure threshold. Severe alcohol withdrawals can cause seizures, and I was experiencing some withdrawals anyway (I didn't think they were very serious until it was too late) when I had a drinking problem. So I had three seizures this way, once while at the court house to see my probation officer, once while driving, and once out in public with friends at a music festival...before I quit drinking for good, and that was 4 years ago. I used to take Seroquel during the day as well as night, and I'd always have to wait for the effects to wear off a bit before I could drive. For me driving is freedom and functionality. Without it I don't feel the same.

Once again, when I bust an AS pattern, I go big. I passed my driver's test as an adult, and bought a car that weekend. First passenger was my pregnant sister in law, and she didn't go into labor. She was watching the kids so my wife and I could go on a weekend vacation. When we came back, we found out my father in law had died in Missouri - so two weeks later we all did a drive from LA to Missouri. A whole lot to cram into one month.

In 2018 I did a cross-country drive, with another one planned for next June. AS makes the most boring road (Nebraska, that would be you) tolerable.

I don't drive, nor have ever. But it should be noted I also have a vision impairment. I've thought about learning a few times but between my anxiety, vision impairment, and having no where to even go it doesn't really seem worth the effort..

Not only do I drive, I even drive inside.

I would like to learn to drive, but it's for some reason very hard to pay attention to everything and it makes it very stressful, and sometimes downright feel unsafe. I've avoided properly learning to drive because of this, even though I want to.

I tried to get my license when I turned 16, I was horrible. I was even shocked by how horrible I was. Instructions actually told me I shouldn't be driving and no one in my family was really brave enough to teach me. I struggled to learn how to drive into my early 20s and gave up. People continue to give me hard time that I don't have a driving license, but I learned to not let it bother me.

I have a license and had no huge problems getting it. Some things were tricky (like overtaking vehicles on the motorway) but that came down to inexperience. Now I live in a big city so there are trains and subways everywhere to get me where I want. I drive when I visit my family in the countryside once a year. They tell me I'm a safe drive and are a bit surprised I don't forget how to drive in the time in-between our meetings. Muscle memory, maybe.

I'm a fully competent driver and have driven cross-country (Minnesota to New York, etc.) several times, through Chicago rush hour (with an overheating U-Haul truck), and lived in the NYC area commuting 1-1/2hrs to work every day.

But driving makes me perspire sometimes and I'm constantly imagining getting distracted and getting into an accident.

Fortunately, the three accidents I caused were at very low speed, no one got hurt, and only once was there car damage (mine...a total loss...small car hitting an immovable object). I have to focus to not look to the left or right because I lose track of time if I see something interesting (which is what happened when I caused those accidents).

The only other thing about driving I could never do well was drive at night. In America, there are those dashed lines down the middle of the road, and staring at those is too hypnotic at night and I end up falling asleep easily. Only twice did I actually do so but no harm was done...incredibly.

i have been in LOTS of accidents most minor meaning i bumped the garage for a sec while trying to park, etc, when starting out - but one was major thanks to my mom (also aspie but undiagnosed but majority of her traits are more evident than mine, to my mind) - being chitchattery and telling me to do something and having a meltdown that i wasnt when i wasnt sure it was safe or not -it wasnt but she was in her full b lown meltdown stage and i was a new driver totally relying on her guidance- so BOOM.
car gone. we survived. paid the other guy (truck) who had literally just a scratch on his truck.. sigh.
then years later nothing .. then
XH thought my training by driving instructor was v ery bad as i wd refuse to drive

(he trained me and i improved, then he paid for lessons and that lady was soooo much better than my original instructor and figured out all my issues including attention drifting off thing ) and solved it . then the accidents i had were when i was coming back from blood tests (lots of vials extracted) and pregant, bumped into parked car in front of me..
then one time after a lot of distressing stuff (posted abou it here) i bumped into a car who himself was speeding then suddenly STOPPED. nothign happened to his car but mine - the front of it, the license plate is slightly curved now.
but now that man (wshich my parents realized he had planned it) filed false claims against me last year (and claimed something that never happened)
and my video of the incident and him and our cars- which my elder cousin advised i do in case he tried to falsify something-
were deleted by my own self months later.. to make room for kids videos on my phone (idiotic) as i thought all was well !
i had no idea he would pull that..
oh well.
now in court..

Study examines timing abilities of drivers with ADHD and ASD