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hmk66
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29 Jun 2022, 4:30 pm

You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.



r00tb33r
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29 Jun 2022, 5:21 pm

Autism is very much a catch-all term.

I know a self-diagnosed autistic person who can barely ride a bus without missing their stop. They will be learning how to drive soon... I'll let you know how that goes. :lol:

Myself, I've been on the road for 17 years, about 80k miles driven. I operate the car well, and I'm fast, I am very confident in traffic. Driving requires my full attention, so having passengers for me is a problem, I cannot carry on a conversation while driving, I also cannot operate any device with a screen while driving, cannot use touchscreens at all. Large buttons and switches are not a problem. As for navigation, it's easy for me looking on a map, but relating it to actual surroundings is difficult for me. I have poor visual processing of the environment, I have difficulty relating the real-world appearance of a place to it's appearance on a map. Like if I'm looking for a specific store front I could be driving around for a while because my visual processing is not flexible enough to relate what I'm seeing with what I'm expecting to see.
I'm very good at seeing and predicting what other cars are doing, but otherwise I don't really see and process a lot of posted signs.

If someone were to make a decision on whether to give me a license or not, had they known about my specific difficulties perhaps they would not give me a license. Most people on the road drive worse than I do so...


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Last edited by r00tb33r on 29 Jun 2022, 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DanielW
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29 Jun 2022, 5:31 pm

hmk66 wrote:
You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.


If you are licensed to drive in your country you can drive in Russia. Russians with autism can't get a license. That's the distinction there.



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29 Jun 2022, 5:39 pm

DanielW wrote:
hmk66 wrote:
You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.


If you are licensed to drive in your country you can drive in Russia. Russians with autism can't get a license. That's the distinction there.


I would assume that that would be the case. That if you have a valid drivers license in nation X then you can drive in Russia even if you wouldnt be allowed one in Russia itself.

Seems like a bad time to take a joy ride to Russia right now.

Dont use the southern routes to drive there right now though. That take you through Ukraine or southern Belarus.



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30 Jun 2022, 7:39 am

hmk66 wrote:
You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.


Just a few points:-

1.
Quote:
. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic.


None of my business but you may want to consider if this relationship is worthwhile pursuing if your girlfriend has negative issues around what your diagnosed with

2. The Russian gov can’t see or access your medical diagnosis all they have is your passport, visa and driving license to go on. If your license is valid to drive on their roads it’s prob ok

3. Russia is de facto at war with surrounding western countries and is actually in a shooting war with Ukraine so you need to check if the border is open first assuming your not crazy enough to go via E Ukraine?


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magz
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30 Jun 2022, 7:51 am

^ I agree, it's not a good moment for a ride to Russia. It's not really safe.

If you decide to do it anyway, take into account that you will need money for bribes. A Westerner in a car is a great opportunity for extra income for local police officers.
It used to be a problem all over East Europe. Some countries implemented more or less successful measures against it... others didn't.
If there is a shadow of a reason for stopping you, they will - expecting you to pay so they let you go.


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Joe90
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30 Jun 2022, 7:56 am

I thought Putin had autism? :roll: Does he drive?


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magz
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30 Jun 2022, 8:05 am

Undiagnosed autism does not count.


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carlos55
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30 Jun 2022, 10:16 am

magz wrote:
^ I agree, it's not a good moment for a ride to Russia. It's not really safe.

If you decide to do it anyway, take into account that you will need money for bribes. A Westerner in a car is a great opportunity for extra income for local police officers.
It used to be a problem all over East Europe. Some countries implemented more or less successful measures against it... others didn't.
If there is a shadow of a reason for stopping you, they will - expecting you to pay so they let you go.


Yes westerners are not that welcome there at the moment so if they see a European no plate you may be targeted by police or angry locals or just someone looking for a fight.

If you go fly in via Turkey or Israel and hire a car at the airport


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30 Jun 2022, 11:28 am

DanielW wrote:
hmk66 wrote:
You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.


If you are licensed to drive in your country you can drive in Russia. Russians with autism can't get a license. That's the distinction there.


I googled autism and driving in Russia and it didn't pop up with anything though it was a very brief search.

If such a rule does exist the best way if getting around that law is to completely ignore it.

The DVLA tried to revoke driving licences from autistics here and it didn't end well for them. They got scalded and I doubt many autisitcs would have been foolish enough to hand over their licences for law changes that are based entirely on discrimination.



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30 Jun 2022, 12:58 pm

OP is lucky they can drive. Well maybe not exactly lucky, since it takes time and effort to learn how to drive, but that they can without their autism causing problems. I never learned how to drive, which really really blows because where I live you need a car to go practically anywhere, everything is so far apart. I have trouble with distances, things often look closer to me than they really are, like moving cars, and I always think they're going to run me over. I feel like everyone who drives has gone insane and would love to turn a pedestrian into road kill if they could get away with it. Hard to believe there are other countries where it's even worse, and they would be shocked if they saw pedestrians around here fearlessly walk in front of stopped cars across the street.



hmk66
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30 Jun 2022, 3:07 pm

DanielW wrote:
If you are licensed to drive in your country you can drive in Russia. Russians with autism can't get a license. That's the distinction there.

Why can't they?

In the Netherlands nowadays a psychiatrist will have a meeting with the autistic person that wish to have driving lessons and eventually a driving test. Some people with autism are able to drive (like me) and others - unfortunately - are not.

BTW, I am curious about rules about this subject, not only in the Netherlands (where I live) and Russia, but also in other countries. I just drove in the countries I mentioned in the first message: Germany (very often), Belgium (a few times), France and Luxemburg (once).

I notice that I am very good at processing information on the road. I can have a conversation and looking at navigation at the same time, without losing the topic of the conversation, without putting the traffic into danger and without driving into the wrong street (different from what Google Maps says me to do).



hmk66
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30 Jun 2022, 3:09 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
DanielW wrote:
hmk66 wrote:
You know I have ASD, I have a driver's license. In total I drove more than 25,000 km (15,500 miles) without an accident. The last time I love making holiday trips with my car. I live in the Netherlands, but I have been in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France.

My girlfriend lives in Russia. Because of her opinions about autism, I don't tell her, I am autistic. But I do tell her unusual things in the past (like knowing the route from home to a grandma, when I was 3 years old). As I child I was some kind of navigator when my parents when from the Netherlands to Austria. I may be 7 or 8 years old, then, I don't know. In case of sense of place, I am extremely smart. I have been driving in Berlin, in Cologne, in Paris, in Belgian cities between Brussels, Brugge and Breda. A few months ago I went to Valkenburg, Luxemburg and Cochem.

Now my girlfriend tells: Autistics can't get a driver's license in Russia. I start to wonder: I have a driver's license, I am very experienced, why couldn't I drive in Russia? There is one thing that is important, though: Most of names of streets, areas, districts and distance tables are written in Cyrillic alphabet. In a few cases the Latin alphabet is used. But I can read Cyrillic very fast. So I can read Cyrillic directions signs when driving.

My question: Are autistics allowed to drive a car in Russia? I once want to make a car trip from Moscow to St-Petersburg (700 km / 435 miles) and have an overnight hotel between those cities.


If you are licensed to drive in your country you can drive in Russia. Russians with autism can't get a license. That's the distinction there.


I would assume that that would be the case. That if you have a valid drivers license in nation X then you can drive in Russia even if you wouldnt be allowed one in Russia itself.

Seems like a bad time to take a joy ride to Russia right now.

Dont use the southern routes to drive there right now though. That take you through Ukraine or southern Belarus.

The areas that I may want to drive are one or some of Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhni Novgorod, Cheboksary or their respective области (Russian provinces). I have no intention to go to the области that have a border to Ukraine. Those области are dangerious.



hmk66
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30 Jun 2022, 3:13 pm

Joe90 wrote:
I thought Putin had autism? :roll: Does he drive?


I don't know whether he has. It is a rumour coming from Pentagon. He is very intelligent at least. Actually I admire him.

In addition to that, I find Mark Rutte, the Dutch president, a despicable maniac. I suspect him to be a narcissistic psychopath.



hmk66
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30 Jun 2022, 3:15 pm

carlos55 wrote:
Yes westerners are not that welcome there at the moment so if they see a European no plate you may be targeted by police or angry locals or just someone looking for a fight.

If you go fly in via Turkey or Israel and hire a car at the airport

I won't go to Russia with my own car. I will fly to Russia and hire a car there. It is likely that with the boycot, hiring a car is not even possible (I need a creditcard that that is likely not to work). A car, hired in Russia, will have a Russian license plate.



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30 Jun 2022, 3:52 pm

magz wrote:
Undiagnosed autism does not count.


Moral of the story: don't get diagnosed.


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