Can Aspies Drive?

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I got my license 5 years ago and have been driving the whole time. I love driving to be honest. Aside from gridlock traffic, driving is really relaxing for me. I've never been pulled over or anything and the worst thing i've done while driving was back into a trash can when I was first learning how to parallel park. I dunno, it seems aspies usually make either really great or really bad drivers.

I want to learn how to drive this thing. Do you think it's safe?

I used to drive, but not anymore. Putting 40% of my time and effort into something that get used only 5% of the time is simply not sustainable for me. E-Bikes are the way to go here in York, PA.

I think I'm a good driver. I think my motor clumsiness with Asperger's made me take longer to pass than some others as it took me three driving tests. At first I found the clutch and gears difficult to get the hang of, and I was better at theory than practical. You can get books with all the theory answers in and I memorised that. I found the hazard perception test easy.
Now I try to drive as I was told in the lessons and follow rules of the road, while many others seem to drive like idiots.

I'm an excellent driver.

j/k

I drive, some people think I'm a good driver (I try to keep it smooth and comfortable for my passengers at least) but NTHubby thinks I'm terrible. He's a racecar guy, I think NASCAR has different standards than the rest of the world for what makes a good driver.

I tend to be aggressive, my reaction times are not great or sharp, and unlike the op, I am more likely to focus on what's immediately in front of me than on possible hazards down the road. Sometimes I literally look at nothing but the bumper of the car in front of me, and that really isn't the best technique for driving.

I've gotten in more than my share of wrecks, so it would be really inaccurate to say I'm an excellent driver. But I don't think I'm terrible. I make it to work and home every day, drive to my mom's or my daughter's once a week or so, and drive back and forth to church or to the store or the library on a semi-regular basis. I don't often get pulled over for speeding and never for reckless driving. I got my license when I was 22 and have never had it suspended or revoked.

So. I'm an ok driver.

Many people where I live are terrible drivers and I'm sure they're NT, so I'd hate to see how bad my own driving skills would be. At least I know how to read the directions on a stop sign.

A lot of people are afraid of flying. I read that the most dangerous part of a flight is actually the drive to the airport. But that doesn't really make me less afraid of flying. It just makes me more afraid of driving.

Unfortunately, fear can easily shut down just the bits of brain we need for learning to drive. Maybe we should get plenty bored on a riding lawnmower, and work up from there, staying in the comfort zone so far we want to go faster.

Mostly. Depends on your coordination and ability to focus on one thing consistently.

Took me a fair time to get my test (9 months) so be aware of cost.

Yes, Aspies can drive. Although in my case, I don't have the natural "filter" that stops me from doing stupid things. I have a fantastic sense of safety - I will drop conversations or other activities when I need to concentrate on safe driving. But sometimes I do stupid things:

1. Driving my manual transmission car while brushing my teeth (I don't spit, never have and I don't see anything wrong with swallowing).

2. Driving myself to chemotherapy, sometimes in my car and sometimes riding my motorcycle (there was no throwing up, since the cancer drugs have improved a lot).

3. Driving 62 MPH (100 Km/hour) on my Yamaha 650 motorcycle at 19 degrees F (minus 7 Celsius).

That last one was because I moved 2.5 hours away to a new house, and I did not want to wait until spring to bring the bike to my new city.

i was late getting my license (age 20) but i became an excellent driver, & i actually enjoy it outside of the city. i do think there are more distractions than for neurotypical drivers (both internal & external).

though i can converse & listen to music while i drive, i also know there are subjects so absorbing for me that it is better to stay away from them if i want to arrive in one piece.

the worst thing for me is that (unlike most drivers, it seems) i can feel the threats from aggressive drivers & cannot help knowing how terrible the force of an impact would be. apparently so many others simply do not realize the damage or the injury that can happen to them if they make a mistake (like a video game?)... i hate it when i am braking & the car behind me speeds up. why would they do that? (maybe intimidation.)

it is good to get out among drivers if you want to understand how stupid & heedless people actually are, without the intervention of the media world.

Researchers seek ways to help novice drivers with autism

You know, it's funny. I was the first among my Aspie friends to get my license, at 30yo... I always just kind of attributed it to us living in the SF Bay Area, but now you've got me wondering if it was something else.

That said, I HATE driving. It makes me feel nuts that there are so many people out there willing to risk other people's lives just so they can save a couple of seconds on their drive.

One interesting thing though, it's really neat to watch how differently people drive in different regions. I grew up in East Bay SF (CA) and moved to the midwest a year after getting my license. I've gotten to drive through a number of different states since coming out here. It was a real eye-opener to see how even driving is affected by micro cultures. For instance, in East Kansas, people drive ridiculously fast and aggressively, but just an hour or so north in Iowa, people follow the speed limits almost painfully carefully (especially if you've gotten used to Kansas drivers and are very careful to only use the passing lanes for passing.

What's even funnier though is that the NT's I've commented to about the regional driving patterns to were COMPLETELY oblivious to this, but the few Aspies I've met out this way have been all like, "I know, RIGHT?".

I remember that for the first years I drove, I plotted my course by observing the relative position of marks on the car hood with lines on the road. There was a gradual change to the much easier method of looking ahead to the road I will pass over, and checking that there's enough space for the car on each side of me. I also check where the wheels are by which little bumps I see coming and then feel.
When a friend was trying to teach his wife to drive on their farm, he asked her to drive around the potholes, and she asked how. He was a high school shop teacher, but that just stumped him.
It helps a lot to just run around erratically for sport at a young age before riding a bike, as a bike has to steer along the same path as a runner's footfalls to turn along the same radius and speed. Presumably, there are many other circuits in the brain that need to get priority to select the right array of information. Now, when I drive, it just takes a flick of the eye to check on various aspects, while it might once have made me late for the next task.
Similarly, when I first look at a new computer program, I have to read almost everything on the screen, but after a while, I just see the few buttons I use. Have video games helped other learners, or do we need 3-D?

I can but I didn't even bother learning until I was 24. Between having to beg everyone I knew (because my family is poor and often had no vehicle) and having a constant fear of messing up or hurting someone on the road it took me years of self convincing to actually take action. When I was 16 I legitimately didn't think people were required to drive cars until their 20s.

I don't have access to public transit so I had no choice. Walking 6 miles round trip to and from work was becoming exhausting.

2 weeks of road practice spread out in 6 months. Studied the book for maybe 30 minutes. Passed both tests. Screwed up and caused 2 near accidents in my first few weeks of having my license.

I somehow didn't know I was supposed to yield to green on 4-way intersections and could have gotten killed hydroplaning on the interstate. I'm 28 now and so far nothing else has happened.