Driving Anxiety

[ChasingRacing60]

I have researched ASD and compared it to the symptoms I have and have gotten quite a bit of information, but I have a bit more to ask when it comes to driving.
I always have been anxious when it came to driving and family had to make me get my permit, which I ended up having it expire because I obviously haven't been out on the road much to practice, nor take the test.

I cannot focus on the many things you have to while driving and end up getting too focused on one thing, or cannot focus on the one thing I have to and focus on everything else. I can't put down a window, nor turn on the wipers, and drive at the same time.

I have lived in the same town my whole life and I have to sit in the car and visually map out the streets to my destination and if someone tells me to go a different route to the same place, I am unable to just put on my signal and go, I have to visually remap out the changed route while panicking behind the wheel. I have issues with distance judging as well, which means I will always have trouble backing up or parallel parking.

I have a panic attack if I have a close call with a car and end up not being able to calm down enough to drive and I panic at red lights because I don't want to do something stupid.

I have an IEP that is helping me drive, but they only give me so many lessons and I probably need a good year or two of lessons.

Anyway... does anyone else have these problems with driving?

 

[Fino]

I had many similar problems with driving. I failed the driving test twice and barely passed the third time. At the end, the tester said, "You're REALLY nervous, aren't you?"

I hit a lot of cars in my first couple years. I know that sounds horrible, but I mean little hits, like bumps or shoves. I always apologized profusely and they were always very nice. I guess I got lucky!

I still don't take different routes to the same place. Sometimes I'll take significantly longer to get somewhere because I have to go to a particular starting place and then take the proper route. I am now able to take different routes, if I'm directed, but it makes me very anxious and my driving abilities suddenly cut in half.

I have distance-judging problems too, and for backing up I go REALLY slow, like comically slow. And I just never parallel park. Solves that, doesn't it?

I didn't put down the windows, use wipers, drive on the freeway, drive in the rain or fog, or use the radio for the first couple years of driving. When I started doing some of these things, I did them with someone in the car helping.

I got two "lessons". I drove with my dad twice then he stopped caring. I practiced two or three more times on my own, which was illegal, then I took the test. I felt like the test was my practice and each time I failed, I learned a lot! Haha!

The only problem I don't identify with that you mentioned is not being able to calm down enough to drive. I'm sorry. I've had panic attacks in similar situations, but they didn't prevent me from driving. I'm used to continuing as normal while in terrible distress and/or pain, but I don't know if it has anything to do with that or just because the panic attacks weren't severe enough.

Good luck!

 

[Misery]

Here's the thing: A lot of that stuff isn't really autism-specific problems.

Most of it is problems MOST people have.

For example, the bit about divided attention: Most people cannot do it. Ever watched someone carefully, when they're driving, and they try to do ANYTHING else at the same time? If you watch closely enough, you can see that their driving suddenly becomes more wobbly, and they may do a quick "jerk" to correct their position after a short time. It's not always particularly easy to notice, but it is there.

Now, that's not to say that EVERYONE has that issue. There are those that can multitask well, but this seems to be quite rare. Honestly even a simple conversation is enough to screw up someone's driving, in many cases.


Same thing with routes: People get lost easily. Roads are complicated… so many turns, going who knows where, often through rather similar areas. Nobody just automatically knows where they're going the first time. And someone simply saying "Nah, just use the route that goes by the mall" never exactly helps. You might not know where that mall is, or roads near it. And then there's the interstate (I dunno what this sort is called outside of the US). Tollways, whatever. Where if you make a mistake, it becomes very hard to turn around. In some places, you may be stuck in one direction for another 30 miles before a road you can turn on appears, in order to turn around! Many people not only have trouble with tollways/interstates, but cannot even do them at all. I know a couple of people like that, and they are not on the spectrum.

Backing up, that's tough too. Notice how more and more cars now are coming with rear-facing cameras, that display their view on a screen next to the driver? Yeah, there's a reason for that. Cars are designed to go FORWARDS. They really aren't meant for going backwards. And some cars are worse at it than others. I went from a small car to a big van recently, and it became much harder to back up at all, as it's just hard to see anything behind it.

Parallel parking... yeah don't worry about that one. MOST drivers cant really do it. Many have never even tried. It's an extremely situational thing that only applies in certain types of places. I've been driving since 1998, and I've never had to do it.

Also, most people will panic after a close call. There is no easy way to avoid that one. Considering that the "close call" involved a giant hunk of metal going at very high speeds, it's no wonder people get a bit shaken up! I've been in accidents before. Most not so bad, one though quite obliterated the car I was in (I was unhurt though, but that thing was never going to move again after that). And yeah, they're freaking nasty. It seems quite sensible to me, that people would get scared by a close call.


The one and only way to get better about driving, is to do the same thing everyone else has to do: which is to just freaking do it. As a new driver, it WILL be scary. Something is wrong if it isn't. There's no real avoiding that. For any driver, you just have to deal with it and push on.

 

[Progster]

Driving is not an inborn skill, but a learned one like riding a bike or playing a musical instrument and no one can expect to get into a car for the first time and know how to drive. Learning a new skill goes through 3 stages - the cognitive stage, where the action is new and you need to concentrate and think about what you are doing, new synapse connections are being made in your brain to deal with the new skill. Then the associative or practice stage where you are improving your technique, then finally the autonomous stage, where the skill has been practised to the point of being automatic, and you no longer need to think about doing it. But to reach the autonomous stage, you need to practise, practise, practise, and have patience - the practice time needed varies from individual to individual, but in time all people can improve.
Motor Learning: Stages of Motor Learning and Strategies to Improve Acquisition of Motor Skills

 

[Monachopia]

It took me a very long time to learn to drive - far longer than the average person. Like yourself, I wasn't able to do two things at once, as I learned in a manual, it was either shift gears or turn the steering wheel. Either look at the shifter or look at the road. That sort of thing. I had anxiety over ever being able to pass... I passed on the second go - even though the mistake I made on the first test was minor...

That said, the more I drove - and I forced myself to make small weekly trips on routes I knew, after I passed, I learned with time to make the shift changes and flipping the indicator without it taking too much attention. The more I drove, the less I thought about it, it became second nature.

I still have anxiety over driving, but it's more of a - will I be able to find parking at the other end. What if some horrible person drives like a lunatic, how will I deal with that? -- But the actual car processes aren't an issue anymore. It's all down to practice and making yourself learn the motions so they're no longer at the forefront of your focus. It is possible... I always say, if I could learn to drive, then almost anyone can.

 

[Sarah S]

Fore me i have never had a problem in driving infact when i drive i manage to get my ord Difficulties in the back and i concentrate thurly on the road (and i also drove big Riggs before i had to retire due to my diagnosis BUT NOT due to i couldn't handle the vehicles more due to LONG workdays and HIGH stress level) i guess its like al else in this NPD diagnose spectrum. Its Highly individual how said ASD traits present them self & also the ability to drive as well

 

[Fino]

I must have read too fast, I missed the part in the beginning about ASD and wasn't answering in relation to that. I never thought of driving difficulties as being related to it. I was just trying to give examples of someone who had similar challenges and overcame them, but if you mean to use it as an indication of ASD, then I don't know! I would be more likely to consider ADHD as my bigger problem in this area, but I don't know.

I realized this from reading @Misery's post! Thanks!

 

[Illkurok]

I had to take drivers education twice just to pass it more than a decade ago. Driving in traffic in general is extremely nerve-racking for me and I'll usually take back roads or any other form of road just to avoid the turnpike and stuff so I don't have to deal with it.

Having Cerebral Palsy doesn't make it easier either, I have to drive with both of my feet, but I think I do okay.

Fortunately, the town I live in is so small that anywhere you need to go can easily be accessed by walking. I prefer stop signs to stop lights and heavy traffic. It's quiet here and I always dread leaving when I have to go up north to the big city.

 

[tlc]

I can work 3 pedals and keep a bad running vehicle going, stop a car with nearly no brakes, drive in horrible weather. But I don't do well in city driving. So I avoid it. I take the side roads whenever possible, and time my trips so it's the non busy time. I choose where to live so I don't have to drive across town to go to work. So even though I make far less money here, I choose to live here.