Does anyone with ASD find driving stressful?

[Rob]

Even in the small town of Golden, I find driving in town very stressful when it gets busy. Since I had an accident in the past, my constant expectation is that I will end up hitting someone.

One day I was going home from driving my mom to the optometrist. Immediately someone in front of me was backing up to parallel park, just as I was ready to leave my spot.

Tired from working, I had to struggle to clear the back of the vehicle and look for traffic behind me. Once I was able to get on to the main street, immediately someone opened the door in front of me, on the driver's side. Ugh! Another shock to the system! I had to swerve left a bit to avoid hitting the door (and the driver).

Even backing up from angle parking is stressful, as I have to look back to see if pedestrians or vehicles are moving just behind me.

It seems that this town does not have wide enough streets to accommodate for the added traffic of tourists that come in the summer and in winter.

Sure, these situations come with the territory, but does anyone else find driving in tight spots stressful or nerve-racking? Especially driving with an autism spectrum disorder?

It would be great to hear your feedback!

 

[ancusmitis]

Yes, I hate driving. Everyone always wants to tailgate, even in the rain.

 

[overthehills]

Even though I'm not a perfect driver myself I do try my best to drive correctly. I do find it annoying/frustrating when I notice blatantly poor driving from people who don't care.

 

[tfwo]

I'm fairly comfortable driving overall. But I can become very stressed if a 4 way stop sneaks up on me, and I haven't had enough time to analyze the pattern and flow of the traffic.

 

[unsurewhattoname]

Thin roads really do stress me out, I'm afraid I'll either hit the cars coming towards me or the parked ones on the side. I haven't hit anything other than the curb a few times when learning, but still. So town roads are more stressful to me than the small country roads between towns, because of the parked cars and people just being generally oblivious. I'm not a fan of motorways either as the noise the car makes is just too loud for me. It probably doesn't make sense that twisty roads with a speed limit higher than you'll realistically reach full of people going way too fast aren't stressful but they really aren't and I like them.

 

[umbrellabeach]

I'm 22 and have been delaying learning to drive for years because 1) people are STUPID and unpredictable, especially where I live, 2) I can't multitask and there seems to be an endless amount of things to keep track of while driving, and 3) I've seen my brothers learning how to drive and my mom yells at them and lectures them a lot when they make mistakes. I have enough stress in my life right now; I don't want to put up with that too.

 

[Flinty]

I hate driving enough that I've not done it since 2003, even though the province continues to allow me to. I will probably have to rent a car come December and that makes me very nervous even though it'll be about 120 miles of lightly-traveled road.

 

[watersprite]

I live in a very small town which is, nevertheless, the county seat so it is busy and driving bothers me greatly. I don't mind driving on uncrowded country highways or back roads.

 

[buckyboy14]

I'm 19 and could get a license within a week, but I don't like driving at all. I don't know how that correlates with autism, though. What part of it makes driving stressful for us?

 

[Bird]

Yes! I do not prefer to drive. My parents keep pushing me to, but I really don't like it. It makes me nervous, and there are so many things to focus on at the same time. I need to watch my speed, look out for other drivers, pay attention to the signs, listen to my mom or dad, navigate, change lanes and merge, and I don't know what else. Also, since I was psychiatrically hospitalized, my doctor has to clear me for driving every three months, or so. And this time, she apparently marked that I had to take a stupid driving test with some stranger. Which I won't do. So my license will probably be invalidated soon. But I don't care, because I don't like to drive anyway.

 

[Suzanne]

I do not have a license but had a chance driving a car that does not need a license and yes, very scary, but for me, spells freedom from extreme social phobia ie hating scrutiny. So, I LOVED the experience and found it challenging in a positive sense.

Sadly these cars are too expensive to buy at the moment.

 

[RidingDutchman]

For me driving is a big hobby and a really relaxing experience. Once you get used to it many of these unforeseen things are to be expected. You can expect a parked car door opening, so make sure to leave enough space. You can expect somebody to not give way so make sure the car is stopping before you commit etc.


The only place I get really really stressed out about and try to avoid as much as possible is the highway. People seem to be even less attentive as on normal roads so they tend to be more dangerous as there is less opportunity to adjust for other peoples mistakes.
Aside from that, on the motorcycle in high wind riding next to massive truck tires is a pretty scary ordeal sometimes xD

 

[Progster]

I find it very stressful in heavy traffic or busy places, otherwise in the country I find it relaxing and I actually quite enjoy it New places are also stressful. I hate it when there is someone next to me trying to talk to me, I prefer to drive alone.

 

[clg114]

I am a pretty good driver. I can parallel park, back a big trailer into a small space or park my large pick-up in todays parking lots that are made for small cars. Our insurance company gives us discounts for never getting tickets or getting into accidents. But I do not like to drive. I seem to be getting less and less tolerant in my old age. The really, really stupid things that you see people do while driving, just drive me crazy (crazier). I do not like to be angry and driving in traffic makes me angry. It seems to me that cell phones have a lot to do with it. For safety's sake, everyone should give their full attention to what they are doing while driving. Distractions cause accidents and cell phones are a big distraction.

 

[Rob]

I'm 19 and could get av license within a week, but I don't like driving at all. I don't know how that correlates with autism, though. What part of it makes driving stressful for us?

For myself, I have noticeable executive function impairment. This is common among Aspies. That, along with anxiety, can make driving in demanding situations very stressful. Dr. Tony Attwood discusses executive function in detail in his book The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome.

Over time when it came to driving, switching to automatic transmission really helped me. No standard transmission nightmares to deal with anymore. Practicing with my own vehicle really added confidence especially when there was no traffic in town. Driving on a quiet highway is no problem. But when there is a lot of traffic, the demands on my motor skills and critical thinking skills really go up. Without nutritional support here I could have lost my license a long time ago due to complaints about dangerous driving, careless driving, or accidents.

With a four-lane divided highway, I turned left onto the highway carrying oncoming traffic, rather than going behind the division into the correct lane where the traffic is pointing in the same direction as me. This was a VERY SCARY, DANGEROUS experience for me, and I ended up using some colorful language in the process! Ugh! Get out of here fast before someone hits you head on, was my thinking! So I quickly turned around and drove onto the correct highway.

A narrow bridge carrying a long lumber truck can be stressful as the truck is often wider than the lane it is in. Swerving right or slowing down to a near stop is a must here.

These are some reasons why driving with ASD is often stressful.

 

[Beverly]

I don't find it stressful, well unless it's driving the rental car or tour bus to or from the venue, then yes, but anyone would be stressed if they had to drive while people tried to swarm the vehicle, I get tense just riding to and from venues, always afraid our vehicle will run over someone.

other than that, when I can drive and not be noticed any more than anyone else on the road, I like driving except merging onto freeways, that makes me a bit uneasy for a few, but I calm down as soon as I'm out in traffic.

 

[unsurewhattoname]

I drive manual and apparently have the most aggressive gear changes. As my instructor said "it's tap tap, not SHOVE SHOVE". I take hold of the whole stick and shove it in. While focusing on the road I can't let go (so can't tap it in, have to have hold of it to know where it is).

I don't think my motor is too impaired, that's the only time it's really come up as a problem. When I'm heavily multitasking in something like driving. Have to focus on a lot so I need silence. Have shutdown a few times from it just being too much, like when I have sound too, that's my limit. So I do prefer driving alone.

 

[Tom]

No. Crashing is though.

 

[Gordy]

I find it very stressful in heavy traffic or busy places, otherwise in the country I find it relaxing and I actually quite enjoy it New places are also stressful. I hate it when there is someone next to me trying to talk to me, I prefer to drive alone.

I could have written that.
I enjoy he freedom of driving along, but I hate the dangers of city driving. Even a simple thing like going to the shops. I will often stay on the bus a bit longer coming back from work and go shopping that way even though the carrying of the bags is really inconvenient compared to putting them in the car.

 

[Myway]

I like driving, but it is stressful. Knowing what the other drivers might do is very hard to guess for me. I just keep my distance from everyone.