Aspies on the road.

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Does AS make a person more likely to be a safe/good driver, or less likely? Does it vary widely from person to person? On the one hand, I can see the common AS tendency to value rules and consistency as making for an exceptionally law-abiding, careful driver. On the other hand, I can also see the possibility of the (supposed) common issues with respect for authority among aspies.

Personally, I'm a very courteous and safe driver (not to sound arrogant!) I've never had an accident and have never even been pulled over in more than 12 years of driving. I frankly attribute this largely to some of my AS traits. I can't say I don't frequently drive too fast, however. I'm just extremely good at not getting caught.

I'm very interested to know your thoughts and personal experience.

I'm an excellent driver. Never caused an accident. I don't make sudden maneuvers. If a turn is coming up and I'm going to miss it, I'll just miss it and come back around rather than swerve suddenly. It drives people crazy that I won't make sudden changes. heh.

I'm a very careful driver. I always follow the rules of the road. I never make sudden lane changes. I am extremely careful not to take any risks. At the same time, my coordination is not great and I can be a bit absent minded. All things considered, I think that I'm an average driver.

I don't drive. As a favor to other drivers, and to pedestrians. Given that I have seizures, major issues with identifying objects in my environment, incredibly fragmented vision, and have trouble even seeing other cars, I think my getting behind the wheel would be dangerous to me and to other people. I have to concentrate really hard just to drive my powerchair correctly, it completely wipes me out. I'm apparently better than average at physically controlling it, but when you go outside in my kind of chair you have to be paying constant attention to the slope of the landscape and other things to a point where it's just exhausting.

I consider myself to be a good driver. I've been driving for 12 years and I've never caused an accident or received a ticket from the police. I generally follow the rules, except I sometimes go a bit over the speed limit, yet not nearly as much as most drivers on the road. I also try to be a considerate driver.

On a rare occasion, when I'm feeling really bad and am on the verge of a meltdown, my driving skills suddenly get a lot worse. I recognize when I'm not really up to driving safely and I avoid driving when I'm like that, to stay on the safe side. Most of the time though I'm perfectly up to driving safely and would say that I'm a safer driver than most people.

Good at defensive driving. But the speed limits have been a problem. I'd miss the transitions and get 'the tickets,' so I used radar detector to warn me to slow down.
My speeding would entail +15 and there would be radar traps set up here "exactly" in these transition zones.

Somehow in my older age I've managed to pay attention better and I don't user a radar detector now.

Whether or not an Aspie is a good driver depends on the Aspie.

I got my fist speeding ticket yesterday. I was doing 77 in a 45 zone.

I'm a relatively good driver. I don't miss stop signs or violate right-of-ways. I get mad when other drivers don't seem to know the rules of the road. But I am a speeder.

I have gotten a few tickets over the years but have been stopped many, many, many times more for speeding than I have actually gotten cited for it. I have a way of talking to cops that works for me. One highway patrol office (in Illinois) felt bad because he had to give me a citation for speeding because I was caught in a speed trap with other officers participating (so they'd know he let someone go when the whole purpose is to ticket people for speeding) so he downgraded my speeding fine and then told me where all the other speed traps were along the interstate that day.

One day I was late to my kids' bus stop so I was rushing to the next stop to get them from there. I passed a car going really slow on the road and it happened to be an unmarked police car. I pulled over right away but before they asked for ID, I said, "I know I'm speeding but I'm trying to get my kids from the bus stop. Can you follow me to the stop and we can continue this there?" Not only did they cooperate with me but they gave me a warning for speeding through a residential zone.

Fellow Aspy here,

If I didn't know better, I'd think this is just a set up for a "Rain Man" reference. LOL IRL.

I'm an excellent driver as long as every other driver on the road does exactly what I expect them to do. JK!

Actually, I was once driving after a few years out of the habit, heavily under the influence of limerence, with her in the car next to me, when at a red light, I nearly broadsided a crossing minivan because I had momentarily forgotten that I was the one at the wheel! I slammed on the breaks at the last instant and she, sitting sideways with no seatbelt, got tossed under the dash. Closest call of my life, but I have still yet to be the cause of a collision.

The moral of the story: Don't be in Love and drive!

Yah I think i'm a pretty decent driver. I don't go super fast but I don't go super slow either. I usually drive slower on roads i'm unfamiliar with.

My parking skillz suck though. I often take up two parking spaces then I get out and am like meh then just walk on. When given the chance, I park away from other cars so I usually park far away from establishments i'm going to. I don't mind walking, i'm young and light so I could care less if I have to walk an extra 100 meters.

Normally people with aspergers have intense focus on driving so they are very good drivers.
If they are under stress or anxiety that completely changes everything. People with aspergers have a very hard time multitasking (for some its Impossible)

Last edited by IBeatAutism on 08 Apr 2015, 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Limerence is a hell of a drug. I was completely love struck over this girl I met in one of my classes a year ago and I was listening to sh***y love songs, thinking about her all the time, and smiling every where I went. It was as if someone gave me a strong love potion. And I lost my appetite as well and lost a couple of pounds. (im already pretty skinny so that wasn't good)

Limerence is a hell of a drug. Just make sure it's not for someone who doesn't know you exist. That would be awkward...

Bahahhahahahhaa I am a terrible driver! I mean, I don't slow down enough for turns and my shifting is very hard, so people are flying forward and back when I drive. I've taken driver's ed and everything but it doesn't seem to have stuck with me....
BTW, I've only gotten two tickets in my life: one for wearing my seat belt under my arm pit (sensory issues because it feels too tight wearing it "normal") and not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign

This is my thoughts when it comes to driving and others:

I have never learned how to drive. Cars make me very nervous and I hate them. When I'm a passenger in a car and we stop or swerve suddenly to avoid hitting another car my usual reaction is to scream like we're about to die horribly. I hate the way most people drive. I feel like they secretly want to run me over because everyone loves a story of how someone became road kill, and it's always the victim's fault. I've seen gory PSA's where at any second the slightest bit of careless driving could send you flying through a windshield. Road rage. Drunk driving. Texting while driving. I find cars very complex machines that must be very difficult to steer or make sharp turns without hitting anything. I never even learned how to ride a freaking bicycle!

And even if I leaned how to drive and by some miracle was able to drive perfectly, I can't even afford a car. I can't afford gas and the care of one. It's awful.

I've been driving for over 25 years now and all I ever got was 1 ticket for not stopping at a stop sign and that's it. Ive never have had problem driving or learning to drive at all. I even used to drive boats at the marina I use to work at, all from your simple 14ft fishing boat to multimillion dollar yachts.