Driving license

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Not sure where to put this topic. Please replace if in the wrong forum.

Anyway, I'm having driving lessons right now (tomorrow is my 5th lesson). I didn't think it'd be all that hard, but it's actually quite difficult. I live in the Netherlands, we get the non-automatic switching-gears thing: it is DIFFICULT to do everything at the same time (pressing clutch, changing gears, then hitting the gass, braking, all whilst looking around to see if you're not running anyone over) and it's causing quite a lot of stress for me. Last week I was on the edge of just giving up but I feel like I'll go through life handicapped if I can't even drive.

So, I'm about sure that I'll continue anyway and keep going until I got my driving license.

Do you have a driver's license? Do you want to get one? Please do share your experiences, I'd like to hear!

^^Greetings Daniella.

I believe that you shall not need to worry at all. ^^I must say that I had great difficulty when learning to drive a car as I required to consider so many matters. (I believe I use the fun gears system also). ^^However, I believe this is very fun and my scaries left me after a rather large amount of time. I was very silly as I believe I used lots of time to learn to drive and this took approximately one year and a half for me to complete. (Although, I do believe I was blessed by a little break within the middle of this).

My driving instructor man was very lovely and happy and helped me very much.

^^I am sorry if this is silly of me, however perhaps this may be useful for you to try to drive rather slowly at first so that you have more time to think. Also, when at junction perhaps this is nice to use lots of time also. ^^I believe this is calming to stop and not worry too much. Thus I believe this decreases that number of factors that you must consider at any one time.

^^ I do hope this is helpful for you.

Yaye, also, I believe I selected the magical poll option that stated a statement similar to "I obtained my driving license with not too much trouble".

I'm trying for my license next week, but I drive an automatic, so I don't have to worry about shifting gears. I want to learn how to drive a manual seeing as my dream car is a manual (I want a '68 Ford Mustang convertible ).

I can't say that having AS should pose a problem with having a DL...much is about symptoms, not just having AS.

For me, I learned to drive back when parallel parking was a required part of the test and they started making such spots smaller and a larger car was very difficult to pass the test in. Especially if you got a jerk of an examiner that could fail you if you weren't close enough to the curb.

Driving on the streets is mostly about confidence behind the wheel. Confidence comes from experience and practice. A good teacher who is patient and good with students can go a long way to help you feel confident in your skills. It also helps to have a car that doesn't intimidate you (too big, too powerful, poor visibility, etc.).

My dad taught me to drive. Parking lot and around the blocks of the residential neighborhood we lived in. Eventually, he'd let me drive on the local city streets. By the time I was to take the driving test, I had no real issues other than worrying about the examiner being a jerk...I knew I could do what was required to pass the test.

I could not keep my mind would wandering long enough to pass the test when I was 16. I gave up and waited until I felt I was ready. I had no problem passing the test when I was 20.

Good luck Daniella!!

I never got mine due to lack of depth perception and too much distraction which led to a couple of car wrecks. I'm not as adept as others though I'd willing to try again if I had the money to take a class.

One thing about driving, you have to be aware of everything that's going on around you.

Well, the car isn't exactly perfect, it's not like huge, but I'm short and the chair goes forward but it can't go up. So I sit very low in the car, and even when I move the chair forward until it can't go any further, I can only just reach the pedals. I just feel I have barely any control over the car. The guy who gives the lessons is really friendly and patient though, and he says I'm actually doing well, but being a perfectionist I guess at this stage I can't be happy with the way I drive myself.

But tomorrow, I'm gonna get in there with a different kind of feeling. I'm gonna GO FOR IT. YEAH.

I had many lessons but failed my test 3 times in the UK, each time for very minor reasons. Then years later I moved to the States, got myself a car with automatic transmission, and after a few weeks of practising the test was a breeze. It seems far, far easier to get a license in the States, and it helps that the roads here are a lot less complicated and overcrowded by comparison as well.

The best advice I can give if you're having to learn gears is just to get as many hours of practice in as you can. Build up the muscle memory so you can do it without taking your concentration off the road.

Us Yanks do enjoy our automobiles. A lot of it stems from the fact that driving was a right and arguably still is (lawfully, the state can only regulate the use of a motor vehicle in active commerce, but that's a discussion for another day).

America is also nowhere outfitted to make living without motorized transport practical outside of major cities. Public transit is a joke in over 95% of the cities here. Europe is quite different from what I hear.

Well public transport is pretty s**t in the Netherlands too, but we get people going around on their bicycles and mopeds and scooters. But the majority of the households has a car. I mean, getting a week's groceries home for the entire family on a bike just doesn't really work. Not to mention the state in which you'd arrive at work or whatever if it was to rain.

I have a moped myself, I won't have money for a car (and I don't need one) for a long while. I rely on my moped and public transport at the moment. Public transport isn't great though... you often have to walk kilometers still to get from one point to another, which is just a hassle, not to mention time consuming.

I can probably never get a license but it is because of rezones unrelated to AS(I have bad vision) so I'm not sure what option I should select on this poll What really sux is I live in a rural area that's over 15 miles from everything in town & there is no public transportation here so I'm dependent on my parents for transportation

Hmmm...
At age 17 I passed the multiple choice test, and got a permit. I practiced driving then, and I was actually very good at it.

However, I didn't bother taking the road test and getting a driver's license.
I SHOULD, because it would be good in case of emergency.

But I am just too sensitive to light, reflections, extremely and unpredictably clumsy, have pretty bad dyspraxia; I'm 23 now, and it only gets worse and worse.

I get bothered enough as a passenger in a car! :P I usually get a pretty bad headache, because of lights, sunlight on an off because of the trees, the noise of cars next to us...
I get really physically exhausted because of all the stimulus.

I also don't ride a bike for the same reasons. I have nearly killed myself a few times. I'm NOT risking that again! I know how to ride a bike very well, thank you very much, but I just can't do it when there are lights, noises and such.

People make fun of me, but they have no idea what is it like.

Can't drive - but for a non-ASD reason. Poor visual acuity.

It took me 3 trys to complete the Driving portion of the driver's test and get my license. Mainly because the first 2 times I took it in a Manual Diesel car that was fairly large. The 3rd Test I did in a small sized automatic and passed. After I got my license I spent most of my time driving manuals and, came to like them. Unfortunately my current car wasn't available in a manual transmition but, it's hard to complain when you got 425 hourse power

I got my license at 18, it took me 3 tries also due to hitting curbs. A different one each time.

I don't think it was poor spatial acuity, I think they were TINY LITTLE BITTY CURBS WAY UNDER THE CAR.

Anyway, been driving very successfully (cars/trucks/automatic/manual) for 30+ years since. Great driving record, low insurance. Lack of emotion may be a good thing here. Less road rage!

cleo, that's reassuring. I've only been driving for 3ish years and I hit curbs quite often.

As for Daniella, wow! You have to learn how to drive a stick-shift? Brave soul. My friend has driven one for most of his years of driving (about 3-4 years) and let me try twice-ish. It is difficult! There is a lot to do at the same time and it makes me appreciate my automatic very much. Also to note, this friend said that he caught on quite easily when he learned to drive stick-shift. It has been very easy for him since.

So, have hope that after years of driving it may not be so bad. Otherwise, don't feel alone, because I can't do it well, either!