Anyone (not) learning to drive?

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I have the feeling that it's just me and a handful of old New Yorkers left who have never touched a steering wheel. I've always just put it off primarily because of my poor sense of space and direction. Never really got a feel for it. Would any older first time drivers care to share their experience with me? How hard is it really?

Driving was scary when I first started, but it wasn't too bad once I got a driving teacher through vocational rehabilitation. I still get anxious when somebody's right behind me though. I probably wouldn't have learned to drive if I didn't need to, but where I live everything's too far apart to walk or ride a bike. Do you live in the city or upstate, because I don't think I would have been able to learn in the city?

I've driven since I was fifteen, but I've refused to learn a manual (clutch) transmission. I don't believe I'm coordinated enough to do it. BTW. I got rear-ended yesterday, but I wasn't at fault.

might as learn - then you can legally drive when you leave new york and are somewhere on vacation that doesn't have a good transport system.

Not to mention holding a license makes international travel a lot easier

Driving isn't what bothers me. It's arguing with my parents over whether I'm prepared to pass the test. They act as if I'll never get another chance.

strange, you do get another shot, you just have to reapply and pay the fee again.

as for me, i did my learners test and got the permit(u can get this at 16 but i never got it until i was 22 due to laziness, i didn't bother applying) that allows me to learn to drive, did a few lessons with dad and then stopped, kinda hard to find time when you work. anyway found out last year that i am epileptic. it is mild and controlled with medicine.
anyway dad said to me that if he had known about that he would not have taken me. my uncle was epileptic and he was driving a bus, had a really bad seizure and the bus hit a tree. he died as a result. that happened a few years ago.

there isn't anything stopping me, i would have to get a medical clearance i would think. anyway i am surviving on public transport ok (it ok here). i should learn anyway just so i can drive where public transport isn't available.

i don't have an interest in learning how to drive and with my terrible distance perception i might kill someone @_@

And my parents know that, which is what makes it so strange. But they've always severely underestimated me. They treat me like a little child. Neither one of them understands what Asperger's syndrome is or has ever made any attempt to figure it out. To them, I'm just a ret*d.

I had a little bit of anxiety when I started driving, but that went away pretty quickly with practice. I think it's a normal thing.

once i get used to the steering wheel and the cars controlability, im a real good driver, but to keep myself from panicing about speed, i normally buffer between 10 higher or 5 lower (in australian kph) than the limit

I choose not to drive, for many reasons.
1. Safety
2. Cost
3. I do not really feel like it.

Other than that I am actually kind of happy that I am not driving at the moment and I don't think I will be able to.

I remember it taking a long time to learn to drive. It was difficult for me to get used to things such as guessing how much space my car can get into, being able to park, and coordinating braking and accelerating etc. But I did learn after sticking at it. I found it helpful to drive an automatic car and learn in that. I still can't drive a manual stick.

I am thinking about getting my license this year because if my trip to California does not pan out, I can always buy a scooter because IMO it saves money, time, and lives. No, I am going to get a Vespa either morelike a motorcycle like the Bat-cycle in The Dark Knight.

Should I go for my license or should I just wait until I graduate from community college?

i have my provisional license, ive had a few lessons (about 5 or 6) but had to stop due to money difficulties.
i want to start again soon.
first getting into that car and starting the ignition was scary, let alone driving around the block my instructor took me to to first practice. that melted away by the end of the lesson though - only because it was a free lesson

I did not test for my driver's licence until I was 25. I remember reading the manual, the day before the test. The written portion was not a problem. The driving portion was a bit more stressful.
Then, my mother decided to give me her old car, as a gift. The fact that I had no idea how to drive a manual shift, did not seem to faze her. So, there I was, driver's licence secured...It took a week to figure out how to keep the car from "dying" at every stoplight/crosswalk/stop sign and even longer to learn how to keep the darned thing from rolling backwards on a hill. It gives me chills, remembering how insane I felt.
The bright side is that I can go where I like, when I like. Having said that, my next car will be an automatic.

i know how to drive, but I hate driving ..to much stress ...too much noise ...too much caos ..and I´m very frightened to harm somebody or get harmed while driving

I feel the same.
My parents forced me to get my driver's license when I was 18 and leaving for university. I didn't have a problem passing the test. I've always been visually oriented. I simply never enjoyed all the hassle.

My husband (mathematically oriented) had to learn how to drive as soon as he was of legal age (16) for it because he grew up in the country. He says it took him a couple tries to pass the test. He's been in a few accidents.
My whole family grits their teeth when he's at the wheel.
Sitting in the passenger seat while he's driving is one of the few times its a given I'll be stimming.

For the longest time I thought I was just having a hard time dealing with being in the passenger seat,
but on a long drive with my son-in-law and daughter I was actually able to fall asleep as a passenger in their car with either of them driving.

My husband drives goofy but doesn't seem to realize it himself.
I let him drive because no matter how goofy he drives, driving myself just isn't worth the extra aggravation.