AS and driving?

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I quit driving 30 years ago. I hated every minute of it, the noise, the way things suddenly loom up on the freeway,
or dart in and out (kids, animals, debris) on city streets. Remember, we are all alike in some ways, but not in all
ways, so if you can drive, great! Me, I ride the bus, take Amtrak, do lots of walking and riding my bike. It has not
stopped me from going most anywhere I want. Have traveled all over and of course do all my errands on
public transit. Best to you, Alice

Best part about driving is when you are in Germany and can do 200kph (120-125mph) on the highway without getting a ticket.

I have to admit that most of the stress I have endured while driving was in larger cities. Highway driving isn't so bad except that it bores me. I have to try so hard to focus on the road that I miss the scenery.

I prefer the bus. I feel like nobody notices me on the bus, whereas I seem to get honked at a lot in the car. I can drive, but traffic is more trouble than its worth. I also find the bus' vibration strangely satiating. Short distances can be covered by speed walking.

I've been driving since I was 8 (and not on someone's lap, solo). It helped we lived in the middle of nowhere.
As strange as it is, I actually find driving relaxing as long as I don't have to hurry to get somewhere. Best trip I ever took was by myself, spent most of the week just driving.

My mom didn't get her license until she was 34, though. It's weird, it's like she lacked coordination, although she can weave on a loom, or spin on a spinning wheel just fine. My brother has been driving just as long as I have and it took him longer to get his license. I don't think my dad had any problems.

One really has to drive or be driven where I am. The nearest convenience store is 4-5 miles away, and the nearest full grocery, pharmacy, and hardware stores are a couple of miles further. Walmart and other stores that carry clothes and other needs are still further.

The closest library is about 3.5 miles. That isn't so bad for a bike ride because one can limit the number of books and use a small backpack. But groceries and other necessities would be hard to bring on a bike that distance. I would need a cart behind me, but the steepness and length of the hills here would be pretty difficult to overcome with that much weight to pull.

We only have public transportation from one local park-n-ride location, which is 6-7 miles away. The bus only comes once in the morning, and once in the evening, if one wants to get out of town to head to the city. It's designed for people who want to commute to work, not for people who want to use public transportation as an alternative for driving 100% of the time.

I've been driving for over 40 years----having learned on relatives' farms----I LOVE to drive!! I especially like driving alone, and road trips. When I go camping, I'm in HEAVEN just driving there, as I am taking-in all the sites----fields, full of corn, barns (my FAVE [especially those old RED barns]), silos----just, all farms / farm stuff, in general.

I started licensed driving at 16 but the earliest I ever drove a car totally un-licensed was when I was 14.
I don't like big city traffic if I can avoid it which is not always possible.
I don't like to talk on the phone while I'm driving, especially in city traffic.
I don't like being in traffic and having someone in the car talking to me.
I have depth perception issues, especially while moving and with moving objects, that make some aspects of driving more difficult.

This is pure hearsay. There's no evidence that people with AS can't drive. But there are plenty of NTs who can't drive, and a lot of those who do have a licence aren't fit to be behind the wheel.

I drive too, but I absolutely hate it in some cases. If I'm driving in a tiny town, in the country, or on the highway or interstate I'm fine. Driving in larger towns and cities and on freeways is a nightmare, though; worse if it's dark outside. It's just too chaotic: too many cars, buildings, signs, traffic lights, lanes, people, etc. I get overwhelmed and it causes me to lash out. If I'm forced into these situations, for whatever reason, I have to have someone in the front seat with me to act as another set of eyes and to guide me. It's worse if it's dark outside because of the lights and reflections. And I absolutely, positively, cannot find my way to somewhere new, and I'm awful with directions. GPS is a must for me.

I have slow reaction time and I'm uncoordinated. I get the feeling that when I am old enough to drive, it'll be bad.

That being said, I did manage to drive a car for a pretty long way by myself when I was 14. It was the middle of the night and there wasn't anyone on the roads, so that helped a bit. I'm really not sure how I didn't kill myself, it was the middle of winter, the roads were icy and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. But thankfully that turned out relatively all right.

I absolutely love driving, barring heavy traffic and bad drivers. I do get overly upset and obsess over bad driving experiences in my head. I was pretty bad at first and hit things and other cars too many times due to spatial issues or distractions. As I've gotten more experienced though, I've gotten pretty good at avoiding higher speed accidents. All of my accidents so far have been slow moving. I tend to drive fast and am more focused on driving at higher speeds, so it's actually safer for me. My car has a manual mode where I can shift gears and I find this so fun. I don't think I could ever drive an actual manual though.

I love it so much that I'll go for a drive for no reason or take nonsensical routes to get home or to certain places. I'll even peruse Google maps to look for and memorize different streets or freeways to drive on that will take me in a long loop back home. Driving is so relaxing and stimulating at the same time and I often do it to escaped e any negative emotions I'm having at the time. Yesterday while having some issues, I decided to just drive and drive without knowing where I was going and naturally I got lost, mainly because I turned onto a street with the same name as one I'm familiar with in hopes that it was this street. Later, I ended up in the wrong lane and was forced to get on the freeway. I exited and eventually saw Route 66 and excitedly turned there, where I eventually saw an all too familiar major street, thankfully turned in the right direction, and this is how I miraculously found my way home. It was pretty far too. Either this was a lucky shot or I am that good.

I'm also obsessed with watching moving traffic and observing people driving. So I still love being a passenger or just being near a busy street. I also watch my dashcam videos too often.

I got my license a bit late at 20. despite having the license, I've been in a few accidents that probably could have been prevented ['cept for one that was some semi-senescent old geezer that t-boned me]. I am not the best driver and because of that I drive only when I have to drive, there is no such thing as driving for pleasure for me, too risky. I minimized my exposure on the roads. the one exception was one summer I had a bad case of cabin fever and I was just bursting at the seams with wanderlust, so I got into the car and drove about 2 hours to ocean shores, WA. because I had not been to the beach since I couldn't remember when. that is a tough long tiring drive over twisty roads with lots of blind curves, punctuated with soporific stretches with nothing but trees and tall brush on either side. I SO WISH somebody else would drive me there, I'd visit every weekend! wish I lived there. anyways, I tend to get impatient behind inconsiderate slowpokes [who squat in the left lane at the speed limit or even below!] who sometimes seem to be out to get my goat. this part of the country seems to be their homeland. i can't count the number of times I was forced to pass on the right.