I'm curious, since I know a lot of us have issues with driving...

[elanivalae]

...How do you all get around most of the time?

Poll TransportationIf you drive, did it take you a long time to learn? Are you a pretty safe driver

Comments

[trenchcoatedson]

I have no idea why autistics are so afraid of driving, to be honest! I was only afraid because when I was little I was almost hit by a car and could have been killed. I found driving it's like... all rules. It's really systematic and I love it. Sometimes people do crazy things, but that's because they're idiots. There's no social conducts, no subtley in driving, you stick to the rules. I think it's great

[trenchcoatedson]

*subtlety.

[trenchcoatedson]

The only real, real big thing for me and driving though is that I can hardly find A CAR I can see over the steering wheel. I'm 4'9" tall. And I am not growing.

And the only other panicky thing I can ever think of after I got over my first anxiety of driving, was driving on the interstate for the first time. I've been on it several times, now, so it's no big deal... but at first it's a little duanting because you'll be going 70-75, but people around you will be going.. 80-85.

[kethar]

One of my sister's friends mother was only an inch or two taller than you and drove a Suburban. I could never see her face when she drove.

-ken-

[elanivalae]

I have no idea why autistics are so afraid of driving, to be honest!

I can't simultaneously process all the things going on around me quickly enough to react properly, and I have problems with telling how far away something is/how fast it's going, so things like making unprotected left turns are a nightmare.

I like highway driving all right, especially at night. There's less input to think about, no traffic lights, the roads are better, and you basically go in a straight line.

[trenchcoatedson]

I have a problem with judging distance and speed, too... but I always thought of it as an advantage... though I'm not sure why. It just means you're less likely to get in an accident if you're more cautious (though it's nerve-wrecking when someone is driving with you. UGH I hate it when people are in the car with me.) I live in a small town, so traffic isn't that bad (but I've been in the city before- it is scary, but I would assume it's a little scary for everyone who doesn't know where they are?)

I looooveeeeee highway or interstate driving. Early morning. Night, not so much. I have trouble seeing at night for some reason. And my car lights are really weird... on bright they're super bright and it's no problem, but on low they aren't there at all, so it's frustrating having to click them on and off depending on if someone is coming.

[made_of_paradox]

Rush hour highway driving can be hellish. That's my biggest issue.

Non-rush-hour driving is fine for me. Unfortunately, I can't always pick and choose when I'm driving where.

[sparrowrose]

I have problems with telling how far away something is/how fast it's going

I drive my husband nuts because he goes to cross a street and I see the cars coming at us so fast and so close and I can't help but gasp. Until he got used to it, I almost caused him to get into accidents. He has mostly learned to ignore it but still nags me about it.

I can't help it. I can't ride around with my eyes closed because it makes me feel ill so I'm stuck watching in terror as he does things I wouldn't dare try if I were driving.

[elanivalae]

I do the exact same thing (both when driving and on foot), and it drives my husband crazy as well. But I can't do anything about it, because to me, it really looks like that car is going to hit us. >_

[azalynn]

I'm not afraid of driving per se...at least, I'm not afraid for no good reason. The way my visual perception works, I am not likely to even realize something is dangerous until after it kills me (and whoever else is in the car with me). I tend to zoom in on small details like lettering on license plates, as opposed to large-scale things like, "that UPS van is coming straight at me on the wrong side of the road". And this is not anything that is under my control. Plus, I don't know where you live, but people in the San Francisco Bay area do NOT seem to use their signals consistently. And every other person seems to be on the phone. It's just too chaotic. The mechanics of driving might be systematic, but there's no way I can react to the non-systematic outside world fast enough to stay safe.

[trenchcoatedson]

For some reason, with driving, I've been able to notice small details and large things simultaneously. I have no idea why. I assume it's normal in the sense I can be able to notice both, but abnormal in the sense usually people don't even pay attention to details in the first place. I'll usually look at license plates a lot, too, but I'll be able to notice someone on the wrong side of the road

[codeman38]

I am also originally from a small suburb where there's no transit, few sidewalks, etc.

I tried learning to drive, several times. Failed miserably at all of them, thanks to things like running through stop signs that I didn't even realize were there. Or trying to turn down the wrong side of a divided highway, because I didn't even realize it was a divided highway. And forget parallel parking.

Maybe this instructor I'm working with next month, who actually has more experience teaching students with various neurological quirks, will have some advice I might actually be able to make use of...

[trenchcoatedson]

I've never actually had a real driver's test. Well, I mean, I HAD one to get my license... but they give out licenses here like candy. this was my driver's test:

1. Drive down the road
2. Turn right
3. Turn into an opening parking lot
4. Do a U-Turn
5. Drive back

...I kid you not. All the stuff I learned in Driver's Ed? I didn't have to do at all.

My Driver's Ed teacher was a REAL jerk though most of the time. One time he yelled at me in class for not having my permit yet and I started to cry. I also had a terrible time driving around cones for him and kept knocking them over... not because I couldn't drive, because I couldn't see the cones. I kept telling him I was too short and could barely see the ground over the steering wheel of the school's car, but he was like, "I've had short people in my class before, stop complaining." And I was like "Well, okay, I'll just keep knocking over cones that I can't see."

[codeman38]

See, when I'm still afraid of my own driving like that, I don't even want to get a license. What's the point of getting a license when I'm going to end up totalling the car soon afterward by making a mistake like the ones I made repeatedly in the lessons? (And no, even trying to caution myself against making those mistakes didn't help... if it makes any sense, I got so focused on watching out for stop signs, divided highways, and other such dangers that I was even less conscious of them than before!)

[trenchcoatedson]

Well I'm not going to lie, accidents are SCARY. Probably more so to me than normal people. My first (and only) accident I was making a left turn and I didn't see these guys and they managed to swerve and hit me in the front.

Then I freaked out, and I think they noticed I was a little, er, not naive, IDK, but they managed to convince me not to call the police and that they just needed to leave their name and stuff. So basically, they conned me into a hit and run. I had no idea what made me even think that was OK, I've watched a ton of court TV to know better. Then they left and I couldn't get my car out of a ditch so I just sat there and cried and cried and cried until a police officer pulled over and asked me what was wrong. Luckily he went and chased down the guys.

[sparrowrose]

Or trying to turn down the wrong side of a divided highway, because I didn't even realize it was a divided highway.

I've SO done that!!