NLD questions: improving visual perception: driving

Post Reply New Topic

I'm amused to rediscover this ancient post. I let my license expire a few weeks after the last post and never looked back.

Thirteen years later and a lifestyle without driving suits me perfectly.

In the intervening years, I've learned to find my own path in life and now the idea of operating a speeding motor vehicle, while navigating heavy traffic seems absurd and terrifying.

I'm grateful to all of the kind people who have lent a hand and a ride and I enjoy being a passenger, while somebody more competent is behind the wheel.

Meanwhile I took the G2 exit a half dozen times until I passed. Why? Because once you've got a G you've got decades where your licence is valid, whether or not you choose to use it. Yes, it cost quite a bit but the benefit is never needing to worry about my licence lapsing.

The only time I ever worry is the combination of heavy traffic, highway speeds and bad weather. Any two of those are manageable but all three is stressful.

The most useful thing that I found was learning to do autocross. Having confidence in your ability to control a car makes you feel a lot more secure as a driver.

Honestly didn’t know this was a thing. My driving spatial skills are terrible. Always have been. Thought was it was because of anxiety. Right front wheels run over curbs sometimes. Have done it to both of my Mercedes, the BMW and Volkswagen Rabbit(blast from the past) All when they were brand new. Nearly gave my ex a apoplectic fit. Not cheap vehicles. Well the (2) Rabbits were, his and hers.
Beemer was his fault for buying a stick shift and making me drive it home alone by myself, off the lot with only one driving lesson. Laughingly Said if I got home in one piece it was mine. (He drove his truck home later that night.) Lived 30 highway minutes away and had to cross a toll bridge.
CA freeway traffic. Rush hour. Angry drivers. Pandemonium. Made it home. Was a nervous exhausted wreck though. And when parking in front of the house ran over the curb causing a small scratch on the hubcap.
For once he was true to his word.
Still bump into curbs when I drive now and then. Only use rental cars now if I go long distances which is rare. Can’t afford to pay for something that will only spend months unused in a garage.
Sounds like he was generous but later found out he hoped I would get killed in an accident and he could collect insurance. Wasn’t his first or last attempt. But I couldn’t see what was happening at the time.
My life sounds like a bad movie when I write it down.
Ten years ago I remember taking one of the Buzzfeed quizzes. It said my life was a horror film. No argument there.

Now that I think about it he was actually mad because I made it home.

talk to an occupational therapist. Some parts of our neurology might be trainable, many parts of it may not.. until you explore your abilities and learn your limits, how will you know? Each of us is very different. You can usually get referral to a specialist or an occupational therapist through your GP , most insurance will cover it.

I have this problem. I had my left hippocampus removed in 2014, when I was 18, because I had seizures and wanted to be able to drive. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that I am absolutely terrible at driving. I have no sense of direction at all and need a GPS if I'm going literally anywhere, and as someone else said in here many years ago, I struggle to figure out intersections, such as whom to defer to when I'm turning left at a green light or right at a red light.

I've been working at this for about seven years, and I still don't have the confidence to drive on the interstate by myself. I work from home, so I consider myself lucky in that regard, but I live in a fairly rural area, and public transportation doesn't exist here. I'm worried about my future.

see if you can get a referral to an occupational therapist over perceptual issues, there are tests they can do to help understand your specific troubles and they may be able to suggest things that would help you "work around" those issues. It seems like having specific information about your perceptual struggles could be a great help.
They may be able to give you a good idea if it will be safe to begin driving, or if you should consider alternatives (and there are likely several alternatives which may not cost as much as operating a personal vehicle) Hope you can find some answers.