Do you like driving?

[. . .]

Do you have your license? If so, do you like driving?

I got my license when I was sixteen, but I've hardly driven since turning 18. I despise cars for a host of reasons, a couple being that they mess up the environment and kill a high amount of people in extremely inhumane ways.

Driving is very stressful for me and I don't enjoy any minute of my time spent behind the wheel. I know some people love driving, and that's fine, but I view cars as being what they are: A means of transportation which allow us to travel to our destination.

In my ideal world humans would be able to warp to their destination.

 

[Droopy]

I haven't learned to drive yet but I do like traveling in the car. I usually put on my music and enjoy the scenery that we drive by.

 

[Kit]

I don't mind it. I just don't like heavy traffic. But doesn't everyone hate it?

 

[. . .]

But doesn't everyone hate it?

Do you mean hate driving in general, or just hate driving in heavy traffic?

 

[bucephalus]

nah, everyone hates heavy traffic - unless of course one is not looking forward to reaching their destination! I personally love driving but i'm particularly interested in cars. i'm more into the roads and scenery

 

[CJinherPJs]

I have a provisional license and I can start having lessons next week.
I've had some practice over the industrial estate but have never driven on the road. I feel quite daunted by it but... I know people at school who have started learning to drive, and if they can do it then there's no reason why I can't.

 

[Firnafth]

I like driving if it is 1) On a relatively vacant freeway so that it isn't hard to drive and I can glance at the scenery; 2) On a route I am very familiar with and when there aren't many cars around.

This means, of course, that I dislike driving anywhere new and anywhere there is any sort of traffic. I actually don't mind the parking-lot traffic at all, it's the part when traffic is moving and I have to change lanes when there are few spaces and I also have to watch everyone else at once that stresses me out.

Oh, but the worst: driving at night when it's raining but so cold that the rain is freezing on my windshield and I am driving somewhere new. So dangerous. I hope I don't ever have to do that again.

The best time to drive: early on a Sunday morning when it's neither cold nor hot, when the sun is going to come up soon but hasn't yet, and there is nobody on the road. Easy to drive, nice temperature, and not too bright or too dark out.

 

[jaws]

???, I agree with your reasons to despise driving...I find that as I get older it has become more stressful...However, I think it has more to do with my life being stressful and I'm just tired and more prone to sensory issues.

My dad was a truck driver and then a truck salesman when I was younger. For reference, my dad taught his OLDER brother how to drive an 18 wheeler and brought him to tears in their late 20's early 30's (he's not mean, but somewhat condescending and very impatient)...well, I was driving 18 wheelers around parking lots when I was like 7yr and had driven a 3 wheeler, motorcycle, and car before age 15. I was very nervous at first but with enough practice it became second nature...I also liked car shows and car stereos, and use to love long drives at night when it was cool out and the roads weren't very busy.

Now, the new super bright headlights hurt my eyes and give me headaches (I wear amber sunglasses at night when driving lately), so many people not obeying traffic laws and driving 20+ mph over the posted limit, riding too close and not signaling, or riding directly beside me without passing so they are just in my peripheral vision...all that leads to me being on the edge of meltdown by the time I get to my destination.

So, under the right conditions I love driving and find it quite soothing, but at other times I hate it and it can cause a meltdown.

 

[Billi]

I like the freedom of driving, of being able to cover long distances in short periods of time, and on my own schedule. I don't mind driving to travel, but I don't like the interstate too much, too fast, too boring. With GPS I can just go across without following the interstate. I set my destination then, head off on some little country road that heads that direction, I go through all the small towns, and see neat stuff, the GPS will find me a route In town. It's slower, but I have a better time. In town I hate driving, aside from being isolated from the environment and the community, it seems so wasteful to burn gas to power a huge vehicle to carry one person a few miles where it then eats up space in a parking lot. I also really don't like the stress of driving in traffic. I bicycle all over, work, stores, barber, bank, meetings, etc.. When you figure in time for parking, and the days you have to stop for gas, for me bicycling almost as fast or faster, then driving. In the US auto accidents are the leading cause of death for children accounting for almost 21%.

 

[Droopy]

I think I'm going to start driving lessons this year and possibly get a car too. I need my independence and freedom which having a car can help.

 

[Grumpy Cat]

I love driving! Only highway driving, though. I love my higher up SUV and would never go back to a car. No snow driving for me. I want a warm spring day with plenty of sun, the sunroof up, radio on high and me with cruise control set at 85 in the fast lane! (Shhhh. Don't tell my Mama.)

 

[shakeitup94]

I love driving but mostly on empty roads. Not so much in city streets and when it's busy. But I love night driving too.

 

[Xavier Marik]

I love driving all sorts of vehicules. As an army driver, I'm well served. My aspie's obession with trucks helped me to overcome my fear of heights when I drive heavy trucks/equipment.

 

[Steph06]

I love highway driving. I'm 700 miles from my parents house and I love doing that drive by myself. It's peaceful. My folks hate it though and would rather I fly...but I hate flying.

 

[Aspieistj]

I love driving! Only highway driving, though. I love my higher up SUV and would never go back to a car. No snow driving for me. I want a warm spring day with plenty of sun, the sunroof up, radio on high and me with cruise control set at 85 in the fast lane! (Shhhh. Don't tell my Mama.)

I like driving because I can go places alone. Public transportation, even cabs, make me very uncomfortable.

 

[Granta_Omega]

I like driving, but only stick shift. I have a constant need to move and feel like I'm in control, and driving an automatic where you just push the gas and break and turn the wheel is so boring that I lose focus of what I'm doing sometimes. I realize when I am driving manually, the thoughts of what gear I need to shift to, putting it into neutral before stopping, and constantly pressing on the clutch keeps me focused both mentally and physically.

 

[Turk]

Yep, I love driving to. Not so crazy about being a passenger, but thats another thread. I spend about 2 hrs on the road a day. Its a place I can collect my thoughts, listen to some tunes and relish in the whole alone feel. I love the way my Aspie mind can spot a path, 3 km ahead, and work the angles. Its like im some sort of driving physicist, who relishes the moment, of passing an idiot who has worked the wheel, like micheal Schumaker, to get where he is. Sometimes driving feels so good, I feel like I should be lighting up a cigarette, at journeys end

 

[Judge]

Yep...especially on a warm, overcast day with the moonroof open. With a mildly winding road and a six speed transmission....driving can be fun.

 

[tlc]

I like driving but like others, only when there is little to no traffic, and on a 2 lane road, and not much over 55 mph. I like to go explore side roads, and isolated places. To get away from people. I hate driving in town and if there's a back way, I'll find it. Sometimes my routine of about 30k miles a year gets old, but I still like to go explore remote quiet places now and then.

With snowy/icy roads 8 months out of the year, and not much salting done, you pretty much have to like driving in snow. It's funny how the east coast makes national news out of 50 mph winds or small storms. We get much bigger storms and straight line winds in the range of a cat 1 hurricane and it's just business as usual. 70 mph winds on highways that are a sheet of ice is scary. Sticking to the back roads means still a sheet of ice but less chance of collision and more surroundings to break the wind.

If something is within walking or biking distance, weather permitting, I love to do that, but that's rare. Most of the time it's either raining or snowing, and everything is so spread out. The great lakes are beautiful but sure do wreak havoc with the weather.

 

[Vanilla]

I love driving

I didn't always though. I didn't exactly race out to get my learners when I had come of age, and even once I had, I wasn't in too much of a hurry to drive. I had always felt a little hesitant about getting behind the wheel, and felt like it was somehow wrong; like some kid, trying to hijack their parents vehicle. Lessons made me anxious too, as I was always worried I would cause an accident, or stuff up some how. There were too many things to pay attention to, and timing was extremely important; not to mention, dealing with bad, or impatient, drivers.

Now that I'm more experienced, and no longer have to think about the many factors involved with driving (as they come so much more naturally to me now), I do love it. It's especially great when you manage to get yourself away from the cities, and along long stretches of road. I love the idea of road trips too; a group of friends, all heading out for adventure. I would go on more of them, if I just had more opportunities to.