Can many of you here drive? I can't

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I've noticed other posters here talking about driving. I can't do it, I mean I could operate the vehichle-a monkey could probably do THAT- but not when there are other cars involved. Too much for me. I don't even like riding in them,as my complete lack of depth perception paired with anxiety make me convinced that disaster is imminant. I'd kill somebody,probably me, if I tried driving.

I could drive easily if I wanted to.

I can drive at low speeds so long as I dont have to negotiate intersections (if I come to a 4 way stop I just pull over and park until theres no one else in sight).

The problem is at high speeds (above 25mph) it overloads my sense of sight and I get dizzy.

Well, I love to drive. The only place I have really trouble is in big cities (I have yet to drive there), the interstate with truck traffici (what I-70 has all the time), and the mall area around christmas. However, I have a fear of the driving a stick car, because I beleive I'll get in an accident with it. Even though I really want to learn. When I was learning to drive, this issue was a point of tension between my dad and I.

One I have to have when I drive is the radio on and playing music or NPR (National Public Radio). If I don't have that its very hard for me to drive. Even if I have people in the car and we are talking, I have to have the radio on. (the radio is turned down very low.)

I like to drive also but not in heavy traffic - however I think it helped that my Dad taught me at a very early age so it seemed more natural. I actually think it is worse when they want to teach kids how to drive when they are much older because then you overthink it. Not saying that 13 yr olds should be driving around, but it helps to get familiar with a car when you are younger.

YIKES, this brings back memories! I used to HATE getting on the freeway, driving on narrow streets, etc... I could almost FEEL the cars next to me. I generally keep a wide berth. I watch all four sides! If someone gets too close in the back, I put on the hazard lights. Most are too stupid to see the pattern. I generally try to get away. Anyway, lukily, it is almost like I am not driving. If the city is designed dumb, and I have no map, etc... I can go NUTS!

I treat cars like I treat seats. You should see how I treat seats at the airport!

Steve

I have my learner's permit and I drive occasionally. I took driver's ed in school last year and my teacher (who happens to be my school's football coach) was constantly giving me crap about being stupid and not being a very good driver, which was very hurtful. Since then I think I've improved a lot, but I still would not want to drive in crowded traffic.

Narrow streets, you don’t know narrow; many streats in Blity are so narrow that you have to give way to oncomming traffic.

I love driving - I've noticed many cannot drive regardless of aspergers..

SAME HERE!! !! ! And SOME can hadle 3 to not quite 4 lanes, but people park on BOTH sides of the street! NO, I KNOW narrow! And did I mention that a car rental company recently insisted I take a BIG van instead of the compact I wanted? I NEVER drove a van IN MY LIFE! Anyway, I felt like I was drving a large truck. I looked down at all the cars, had less clearance, etc... And ONCE I went up a HUGE mountain that had almost NO clearance between me and the cars. I had to go almost to the top to be able to turn around and come down. When I finally parked, my brakes were SMOKING! LITERALLY! So don't think you're alone!

Steve

I wouldn't be safe driving, because moving objects sometimes seem to disappear, and in a road... well you can see the problem.

I can drive well and am really good at navigating while driving. But I get nervous with other people (talking) in the car. I can lose confidence with my husband close by. I don't know why. I love driving alone. I was raised in the country, though, so I don't like heavy traffic (I-80 in California eg, I-70 anywhere else)

I was slower than my peers to learn to drive. It took me two years to get my liscense...17, not my 16th birthday like most. I only had my parents' van to drive, and it was so big and up on the road that i couldn't navigate. they bought me a smaller normal car and i greatly improved. I'm good at driving now, but terrible at navigating and bad at parking. I've never had an accident or a ticket, but I get lost frequently going familiar routes in my town and my car has all sorts of scratches and bruises from hitting curbs, parked cars, poles, etc. I guess its bad spacial organization. I can't tell where my car is.

My friends made up the motto for riding in my car : You won't get injured, but you'll probably get lost."

Unless i've driven somewhere several times before, i need someone riding shotgun as navigator, telling me exactly when to turn, change lanes, sometimes even reminding me to stop at a light. I don't understand maps, and i never remember street names, so i just memorize all the routes i normally take and either go on autopilot or use landmarks. i often only know how to get somewhere starting from my own house. And of course, i can't give or follow verbal directions at all!

Aside from that though, i'm actually a good driver. So good, in fact, that the only thing i missed on my drivers test was stopping at a green light!

Oh, i forgot, I also need music on! I can't pay attention without it and start to daydream and forget where i'm going, count letters on signs instead of the road. When i was cognitively tested, the neuropsychologist confirmed this was true. the way my brain (and probably many aspies') works, the music is stimulating and prevents me from retreating inside my head. So its actually safer for me to blast my music that it is to have silence or something calming.

6 years after getting a liscence and i was glad to have that proven to my parents!

ooohprettycolors,

WOW, I have had a similar problem lately in meetings. Maybe that is the reason!

I'm going to have to watch that! It is like it was towards the end of my real obsession with computers. I would program for HOURS, and my eyes would get RED, etc.... WHY????? Because I FORGOT TO BLINK! I don't have to think about it, but somehow I just stopped blinking. Maybe the meeting was the same. After all, that stim isn't really concious. It is nothing I really thought about.

BTW I kind of lost what I called "the love of programming" when my last job presented so much undue stress, etc....

I ALWAYS said he didn't know what he had. How about that, *I* didn't either!

Steve

Last edited by SteveK on 01 Dec 2006, 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm a pretty good driver (almost 9 years, no accidents), but I really had to be forced to learn to drive. I was absolutely terrified of it.