being honked at affects my driving

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I am a relatively new driver having had my probationary licence for eight months and a car for two months. If another car honks at me whilst I am driving (It happens every now and again) it really freaks me out, makes me anxious and in tern causes me to make mistakes when i continue driving in fact sometimes it causes a second honk for some alleged mistake. Anyone have any suggestions on how to handle the sudden noise that it brings?

Once you learn to drive better, you'll be honked at less meaning you'll make less mistakes eventually. Just give it time. I hate being beeped at too but I just ignore them or give them the finger.

If you are honked at while sitting at a light, put the car in park.

Consider ear plugs. You can buy a pack of them for pennies at any hardware store.

am find that funny,sister [an aspie,long time driver] does that to,sticks her finger up,at someone who beeps the horn at her,or does something that is bad/illegal in driving,she also says 'w****r' [the swear word] at them.not a good thing to do v signs/swearing though if the driver turns out to be one of those road rage idiots with weapons.

apparently the longer you drive you get use to it, but your concern is very real. familiarality is whats needed here. goodluck

/\ Many auties have a hard time dealing with external social pressures with driving, not driving itself.

For example, you are not likely to miss an exit of the interstate, merge and cut someone off by mistake, speed, or switch multiple lanes in a short period of time for no good reason, but its't the subtlitles which can affect you. The sleeping grandma at the green light on a major highway (not an interstate, obviously), the driver who switches multiple lanes, the one who drives the wrong way down a one-way street, and it can get you mad.

Ok, the annoying people. Remind yourself they are doing it for no good reason or they have an inferiority complex, or perhaps because they drive a BMW or a Mercedes they own the town, or even out of ignorance. Don't let them win, keep your eyes on the road.

I could rant for days on crappy drivers. I won't, but I could. If someone honks at me, I generally end up crying. The horn is intended as a safety device to warn people of an impending collision, not to demonstrate impatience or express emotion of any kind. But that's not how it's used. But flipping the bird/giving the finger is a bad idea to say the least. The cops advise against it. They even suggest around here (California) that you speed up if traffic does, within reason, in order to prevent road rage incidents. They also say not to make eye contact, which is good news for Aspies. Just pulling over and waving traffic past may help prevent trouble, but certainly finding a safe place to pull over when you're feeling distressed is wise. There are a lot of jerks out there and they don't seem to care how they affect people. I've actually considered posting something on my bumper, a sticker that says something like, "Warning: Contents Under Pressure" for a comic approach, or just plain, "If you upset me, I drive WORSE."

I can relate well to this topic.

It always seems that I freeze up and become distressed when something unexpected happens on the road, whether it be an ambulance with its lights and sirens on coming up behind me or a driver who is rapidly switching lanes and narrowly cutting through traffic.

I've been driving for 3 years now and am quite confident with it, although I still hate random occurances like this.

If you like music and can turn on a radio or wear an ipod the honks won't be so startling.

I've been driving on my own for about 10 months now. Horns and sirens still make me anxious, but I think I'm getting better. I'm still nowhere near normal reactions though. It makes me jumpy even when it's nothing to do with me.

If I'm starting to panic, I concentrate really hard on the little stuff, like checking mirrors and speedo. Just focus on your driving, and let everyone else take care of their own. Find a safe place to pull over and take a few minutes to settle down, if you need to.

In Melbourne I dont think this really applies people are very impatient and Australia's rudest drivers. Drivers are very rude and serial honkers from what more experienced drivers they have told me people are impatient and rude road rage is sure an issue here. I have had my licence for 8 months other drivers can see this because of my P plates indicating I am inexperienced you would think this would make them kinder to you but in a way it seems to make them more impatient. There have been plenty of idiots who have cut me off or pullied front of me etc and wanted to honk but havent.

"What do you like about being honked"

"I don't like it, don't like it at all", "I don't like those speed camera flashes either."

The sound of random horns honking always has been a bit disconcerting to me, sometimes to the point of throwing off my concentration. Maybe if the car manufacturers made horns to sound just as obnoxiously loud on the inside of the car as they do on the outside, it would discourage some habitual hornblowers from using their horns so much, at least it would give them a taste of their own medicine.

Every time I hear a honk, I just ignore it. It's also people honking at someone else but when it's behind me, I don't care. It keeps me calm that way.