problems with driving?

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Ive seen many people here talk about driving difficultys. I'm curious what part of driving is the most difficult for people with AS? For me its 4 way stops and funding my way. I get lost everywhere! Even places I should know how to get to.

Yes! The four way stops. I had an accident when I was a new driver at a 4 way stop. I didn't realize that people acknowlege each other and make sure it's safe to go. I thought that it was all about precise timing. I was scared but thought I'd better go when it looks like I have to. Robotic cars without drivers could do that but not people. Now I watch people in the cars and make sure. Stiill, sometimes I have anxiety rushes when I get to stop signs.

On the bright side, I haven't had an accident in years. Probably because I don't think I'm a good driver so I'm extra careful. Right turns are good.

I ALSO have problems with these, but you have to IGNORE people! A LOT of people will go if they notice you see them, and cause LOTS of problems! I also have problems in tight spaces.

My father says my driving is horrible because I don't make eye contact with other people and therefore I can't see if they're letting me pass them or not.

When I was 17, I tried to drive for the first time. I was very nervous. I didn't think the 1990 Geo Prizm base model I was driving had power steering & brakes. No wonder I was making such jerky stops and swerving. I was turning the wheel too far and hitting the brakes too hard. They're quite sensitive. I finally got comfortable driving when I was 21. But in 2005 I was always too tired to drive due to clozapine withdrawal so I sold my car & surrendered my driver's license. I wish I hadn't ! I miss driving so much ! But now I've decided to wait until I am 25 to drive again so that car insurance is much cheaper for me.

I also have hard times with 4-way stops & tight spaces. I tend to hesitate too long @ 4-way stops. My 3rd car crash in 2005 was due to a tight space. Luckily the other vehicle I hit only got 2 tiny little one-inch dents on the driver's side front corner of it cuz the driver's side front wheel was removed.

I loved driving once I got comfortable driving in 2004. Start it up & go, baby. When it got cold, winter wasn't as hard on me cuz I had a nice warm car to get into. It's what I miss the most. It'll be fun when I drive again .

I do not drive a car, but when I used to attempt the feat of becoming a driver, i had complicated problems with depth perception, common sense, and especally sensory overload

My problem with driving is people. They never do what they're supposed to do, they're either doing 20 mph in a 50 zone or they're tailgating me or eating while the drive or any number of other irritating/dangerous things. Makes me wish I had a giant tank to scoot them all out of my way

My problem with driving is the casual and careless nature most people regard the task. Automobiles are by far the largest killers of humankind, far outpacing any disease, or any other accidents. If an airplane crashes and kills 200 some people, it's all over the news for weeks, sometimes months. Automobiles however kill over 37,000 people a year with merely a mention on the news, except how "inconvenient" the resulting traffic jam was the crash caused.

Other drivers totally disregard rules, exceeding speed limits, not signaling, tailgating, you name it. Lack of attention is also a serious problem on todays roads, as people attempt to do everything in their cars but actually drive them!

I take driving very seriously, but unfortunately, the vast majority of the other drivers around me do not. They do not care about jeopardizing my safety or their own. I tend to respect humanity and strive to treat others with the respect I would like to be treated with. Once another driver demonstrates to me that they do not care about being safe, they have lost my respect, and I will stop looking out for their safety as I drive. This is my biggest problem, it's not road rage, but it's close, and I must watch myself because it only takes a few careless drivers to really get my blood boiling.

Outside of having to deal with careless people on the road, I have found I can connect with the vehicle and the road quite well and become as one. Automobiles, like any moving object conform to the basic laws of physics, for example, Newton's law of inertia. My first car was a 1978 Honda Civic that did not have power steering or brakes, and I loved it because it transmitted so much mechanical and road feel back. I felt like an extension of the vehicle. When I bought a van several years back, I ended up having to cut back the boost on the steering and brakes and install firmer springs just because the vehicle felt so numb.

An interesting thing happened to me yesterday as I was driving home. I came to a traffic signal and it changed to yellow. The road was wet, but I attempted to stop for the light anyways. As soon as I put my foot on the brake, something told me "I'm gonna spin out" and by darned if I did! The tail of my van wagged to the left, and I steered it back to the right to counteract it, and then the tail wagged in that direction and came right on around. Luckily, there was nobody around me to run into me as I came around and did a complete 360 . When I felt the vehicle spin, my primary goal was to get the van settled down and stopped within the confines of the pavement without hitting anything else, and that I was able to do because after living with this van for 200,000 miles, it simply becomes an extension of your body!

Funny story, AV Geek.

I don't have any problems at all driving a car. In fact, I might say I'm an excellent driver. Must have been all of those videogames growing up. My dad, however, who is an aspie, is a terrible driver. I don't know how he has managed to not kill himself. He's very unaware of his surroundings, he'll drive 55 on the highway even if everybody is going 80 (extremely dangerous), and yeah, he's just bad. And amazingly, nearly all of the accidents he's been in were other people's faults.

Anyway, that's interesting that bad driving seems to be an aspie thing. I know we tend to absent minded--well, I know I do. I tend to be engrossed in my own thoughts. But somehow it doesn't affect my driving.

I like driving, and I've gotten a lot better with time. At first it was so daunting - 4 way stops were the hardest, and intersections I was unfamiliar with. My only real lingering problem is depth perception - I park like 5 feet away from gas pumps! I just have no idea how much space I have around me, so pulling up to and backing towards things is impossible.

Sensory overload is a problem for me at night with all of the lights, but somehow I endure. Overall I like how my progress is going.

I think I have ok depth perception except at night it can be harder, and harder to tell how fast they are going when it is just a set of lights. I have been driving at night lately as it is the only time I can get a person to sit with me. I want to work on it anyway as the first few times I tried it I almost wrecked. I am starting to like it, I am getting good at it and it has sort of a thrilling feeling about it that I am liking.

getting lost, getting freaked out when a big truck passes me, depth perception. Oh and when there is alot of traffic it's the worse especially stop and go traffic.

I'm surprised to find that people have difficulties with driving. I have found that I don't particularly have any difficulties with driving itself, my only difficulties are down to the vehicle type (canvas topped Land Rover) meaning I don't have three quarter vision and on some junctions onto the motorway I get spat out into the outside lane where it gets interesting when your top speed is around 70-80mph flat out.

I have a hard time with depth perception, particularly when trying to determine when I should slow down to stop. Often I over or under estimate the space that I have ahead till I need to be fully stopped so I eather end up over the line or needing to speed up to get to the line (such as at an intersection).

I also get to overloaded when in heavy traffic, I avoid very buissy streets now whenever possible. I drive 400 miles a week, commute daily to work + driving freely on the weekends.

I love driving and seem to have pretty good spatial awareness in a car, no matter what size. I drive around 30,000 miles a year for work on pretty busy roads (M1, M25, M11, A1 etc) plus in towns and on small single track lanes. I also tow a horse trailer, and used to drive a 7.5t horsebox.

I'm usually pretty quick off a junction - there's one in my local town which is five roads joining at a mini-roundabout. You really do have to see a gap and go for it or you'd be there all day.

I'd like to think I'm an okay driver, but I do have some difficulties. I don't drive at night very often because of the lights--one evening I was driving home from visiting family and one car's lights were so bright I almost had to stop and pull over because I couldn't see at all. Other people's careless driving makes things difficult too since I forget that not everyone is a nice polite driver or cares that they're managing two tons or so of potential death.

I wasn't sure if this was an Aspie thing or badly-adjusted mirrors in my case, but I'm like that too! When I have lunch with my boyfriend at his work, he'll guide me into the spot where I usually park if he's not busy.