Page 4 of 6 [ 93 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next

akuakuaku
Butterfly
Butterfly

Joined: 4 Sep 2016
Gender: Male
Posts: 15
Location: United States

25 Feb 2017, 4:35 pm

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.



RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,043
Location: Adelaide, Australia

25 Feb 2017, 5:12 pm

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

Image


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


richie
Supporting Member
Supporting Member

User avatar

Joined: 9 Jan 2007
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 30,142
Location: Lake Whoop-Dee-Doo, Pennsylvania

25 Feb 2017, 5:13 pm

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.


_________________
Life! Liberty!...and Perseveration!!.....
Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross references.....
My Blog: http://richiesroom.wordpress.com/


Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 75
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

25 Feb 2017, 5:33 pm

richie wrote:
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.

Ivan Illich calculated that if you drive downtown, park, and walk to work, and then work long enough to pay for the car expenses, you average 4 MPH - a brisk walk.



Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 75
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

25 Feb 2017, 5:36 pm

RetroGamer87 wrote:
I want to learn how to drive this thing. Do you think it's safe?



No, the foot pegs will sometimes nick your ankles as you start and stop, and there's no heat shield on the exhaust pipe.



Ssmith25
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

Joined: 15 Jan 2017
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 18
Location: Europe

25 Feb 2017, 6:06 pm

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.



LyraLuthTinu
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jul 2014
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 631
Location: Tacoma

25 Feb 2017, 6:15 pm

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.


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 141 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 71 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)
Official diagnosis: Austism Spectrum Disorder Level One, without learning disability, without speech/language delay; Requiring Support


lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,543
Location: Lost on Earth, waddya think?

25 Feb 2017, 7:00 pm

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.



Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 75
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

25 Feb 2017, 7:05 pm

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.



owenc
Raven
Raven

Joined: 1 Nov 2016
Gender: Male
Posts: 101
Location: United Kingdom

25 Feb 2017, 9:26 pm

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.



Noah_Antrim_Lottick
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 13 Feb 2010
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 48

28 Feb 2017, 4:47 am

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.


_________________
REMEMBER: 1. Preserve Nature. 2. Always wear a helmet.
3. Ride safely. 4. Read owner's manual carefully before riding.


graywyvern
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Aug 2010
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 666
Location: texas

28 Feb 2017, 2:04 pm

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.


_________________
"I have always found that Angels have the vanity
to speak of themselves as the only wise; this they
do with a confident insolence sprouting from systematic
reasoning." --William Blake


ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,644
Location: Long Island, New York

01 Mar 2017, 1:15 am

Researchers seek ways to help novice drivers with autism


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


Zsinix
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Gender: Female
Posts: 16
Location: Pittsburg, CA

01 Mar 2017, 1:34 am

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?".



Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 75
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

01 Mar 2017, 1:58 am

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?



Stormeh
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

Joined: 1 Mar 2017
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 6

01 Mar 2017, 6:44 pm

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.


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 143 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 66 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)