Aspergers and Driving

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I feel like I'm a good driver, except that a friend has noted that I sometimes lack focus.

Most other people tell me I drive like a bat-out-of-hell. I'm the one who will take a highway entrance/exit with a nice, long curve at about 60-65 MPH, but only because I know my four door sports car will do it hanging on to the road as if it's riding on rails.

The problem is that people where I live drive rather slow, so I often end up scaring peole half to death When I drive in Chicago, I feel completely at home!

I'm an ok driver, about average, nothing special. Though learning to drive was very difficult for me...
Not the actual act of driving (I knew "how to drive" right off the bat from playing so much GT when I was little lol) but the other cars just freaked me out. Driving down a road and seeing cars coming at me in the opposite lane was so stressful... I eventually got used to it, but that was a pretty major hindrance for me.
I'm still horrible at multi-way stop signs; I never know when to go... I always end up doing that awkward thing where I start to go, then the other person starts to go, so I stop, and they see me so they stop, so then we both start going, then we stop again...and so on and so forth. Ugh, four way stops are the worst.

I will add that my aspergian boyfriend is a very good driver, though that's because his father runs a luxury car shop so he's grown up driving luxury cars 100+ mph up and down new england to test run them before they go back to the customer hahahaha.

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I love driving and I'm very good at it. I have my own safety rules that are not quite the same as the actual driving laws. When the two differ, I scan for cops before pulling an illegal but perfectly safe move. I occasionally scare passengers. The other idiots on the road are the only thing that ruin driving for me. People have no flow, no anticipatory skills. I'd give lessons but I know that the last ten percent of skill can't be learned, you have it or you don't. I see several moves ahead and allow for the stupidity of others. I am often able to predict what stupid move another driver is about to make, and avoid the trouble before it happens. But I also allow for the unpredictable, leave myself an out.
I have a perfect driving record (accidents only) and maybe 7 tickets in 22 years. More than half were for lapsed inspection sticker rather than an illegal move.
I think that this topic, like many others that attempt to find an Aspie trend in some everyday routine or skill set, will not find consensus. One feature of Asperger's is the ability to focus or specialize in an area of interest, which can easily offset (and then far exceed expectations despite) any initial weakness in background ability. So an Aspie who chooses to focus on driving can easily defy the stereotype and be a top-notch driver.
Another focus of mine that goes hand in glove with driving is geography. I love exploring new places, knowing old ones well, knowing routes and shortcuts, navigating by the sun or compass-limiter techniques. (Compass-limiter techniques works this way: I'm lost, but only on a small scale. I know that the larger area I'm in is bounded to the north by route 90, to the west by this river, to the east by route 126, and it's early afternoon so if I keep the sun at my back I'll be going north-northeast and I know I will automatically hit either 90 or 126 without knowing anything about the roads that will take me there.)

I do hate those bright headlights pointing at me at night though.

I don't know how to drive. I haven't really *needed* to learn and actually get my license yet. But, I don't think I'd be a very good driver. I'm going to have to be really careful when I do eventually learn, I'm quite bad at paying attention.

i drive from point a to point be without breaking any vlaws

I voted for "fair driver", though I don't currently drive. I learned driving in one month, passed road test with flying colors, and according to everybody who sat in my car, my driving felt perfect. I always drove at exactly 1 mi below speed limit, had smooth turns and almost graceful movement, in the town where my parents lived.

It was a new development area, lots of big smooth empty roads, hardly any traffic at any time and no freeway. Then I moved into a big city with crazy drivers and roads always jammed with cars and pedestrians and cyclists everywhere, I never dared driving. Just looking at the traffic when I'm walking makes me all nervous.

If we ever move to some rural area with big empty roads I'd be willing to try again. Not in the city, though.

I'd say I'm a good driver overall. I got my license over a year and a half ago and no cop has even thought about pulling me over. I will admit that I do speed sometimes, but that's usually because I get so sick of being behind slow old people and giant trucks. I sometimes totally freak out if an old person, an SUV, or a big truck pulls out right in front of me when I'm driving. Seriously, it is horrible here and of course hardly any of the roads are double-passing. Even if I'm not driving, I'll still get just as upset about it. I think that has become my biggest pet peeve ever.

I'm 28 & have never even had a driving test, so I can't answer the poll. But I do fear that I'll be a terrible driver whenever the time comes.

I got my license in September 2009 and been driving ever since. I used to make many mistakes when I first started but the more I was driving the more used to it I was. I go driving every day and do errends for my Dad, mostly for his company.

I hear that it makes some people tired. It used to where I wasn't used to it, but I've been taking longer and longer trips so I get more used to it. It doesn't tire me out as easily as before.

I think Aspies might be better drivers... Speaking for myself and those aspies with whom I have ridden, we tend to be very cautious and un-aggressive. We will give right-of-way to an aggressive driver and let him go on his way, whereas an NT driver might challenge that driver, and wind up in a problem. We are also usually scientific-minded, which helps in understanding the physics of a moving car, and allows better analysis of driving conditions, and estimating how the car will behave. God willing, I've been able to avoid a few accidents by seeing in my head, where out-of-control cars will go without traction, by the laws of inertia. If I see a fish-tailing car coming at me on the wrong side of the road in the rain, I have been able to "see" which side he'll be on when we meet, and have been able to evade hitting . NT people seem to just want to jam the brakes on and stop asap, which might actually worsen, or even cause an accident. The other time this comes in handy, is when you're coming into an intersection with your right-of way (green light, etc), and you see a car approaching to collide from your right or left... On more than one occasion, and again God willing, I was able to see the point of impact, and choose whether to floor the gas and get through, swerve, or stop. An NT person just can't seem to do that, and will almost always try to stop, even if that puts him/her stopped right in front of the oncoming vehicle.

Charles

i am currently not officially diagnosed, just to make a note.

anyway, i am actually an exceptionally good driver for 3 reasons.

1. i am a mechanic, i drive cars all day. and the occasional highway road test for a customer's concern.

2. my job is also my hobby. i've built my mustang for drag racing, and make passes at the local dragstrip a few nights per month. love it.

3. i drive ~30 miles every day, mostly city driving.

but you should have seen me when i was learning to drive. i was so god awful my mother would not let me drive pretty much ever haha.

I make a clumsy driver which has involved two wrecks and no I was not intoxicated.

I seem to get easily distracted and have trouble with both my depth perception and coordination. Some of this has felt involuntary, if I get nervous or I see the light change, I jerk and make fast turn.

The whole driving situation has really affected me in so many ways. I've had people who know about my aspergers tell me that it would probably be dangerous if I tried to drive again. What they don't seem to get is if I don't drive, I'm stuck. I've had to go so many days trying to find a ride from a family member or someone I know. What hurts is the way I'm treated as the user even though I pay. Public transporation is piss poor here in the midwest. It's crazy where the bus stops are, in around commercial shopping centers. I'd have to get a ride just to get a ride.

I cried today b/c I couldn't get a ride for days to the grocery store or vet. Well I guess I'm ranting about my driving situation. Would love to take drivers ed if it would help improve my driver skills but it's just as expensive as going to a silly spa.

I am a very good driver, but I'm willing to bet a lot of y'all would refuse to get in a car with me a second time.

I learned to drive starting about age 13, in beater cars in a 5 acre field - NOTHING to hit, so as long as we (brother and I) didn't flip the car we pretty much couldn't get hurt. By the time Dad started teaching me to drive on the road, I already knew how to tell if the car was about to skid, how to avoid a skid or recover from one when it did happen . . . my vehicle control skills were extremely good.

Learning to drive from my dad was an interesting experience. He had been a stock car driver in the late 50's, so he had an excellent understanding of how to read traffic and anticipate other drivers' actions. I was thoroughly indoctrinated with the idea that, "nobody else knows how to drive, so expect them to be idiots." He also felt that, if you were going somewhere, there was no reason to NOT get there as quickly as possible. He taught us that "a decent driver, in a decent car, should be able to double the posted limit for any curve," and wouldn't let us take the drivers' test until we could consistently demonstrate the skill. He also insisted on teaching us how to "draft" from tractor trailers. In the rain. With our lights off. So we would be less visible to cops when we were speeding. Another thing he insisted on was for us to learn how to spot a speed trap before we got spotted. Yes, my father was insane.

BUT!! !! I still assume that all other drivers have no idea what they are doing, so I always expect the most boneheaded moves possible at any moment, and am prepared to avoid those boneheaded moves. I am always in contol of my car and very aware of road conditions.

Basically, I drive like a race driver. Very fast, very smooth, and - believe it or not - very safely.

I failed my test 5x when I was 18 (a little late to start). I had such bad anxiety that I used to get nauseous just passing the MVA. So I actually still have no license. I can't imagine myself driving. I don't think I have the ability to focus on the things I would need to while driving and I have trouble telling left from right.

I feel serious embarassment over this and also fear. You really can't live many places in the US without a license. I don't know what I will do when I decide to go back.