So… I got my diver’s license as soon as I turned 18. It was a very stressful period of my life, and I hated everything about driving. They promised me freedom, but I got shackled.
Passing the exam as a nightmare (took me 3 attempts) and even during the lessons the professor saw how horribly tense I was. I got sick just by thinking about the car.
Once I passed, my family decided that I’d get over my fears by forcing me to drive, every single day, for weeks, with the whole family in the car, yelling, mocking me…
I had several panic attacks that were dismissed as lack of maturity, and I stopped driving. It’s been years.
But now I’m going to have to get better at this due to circumstances, and I’m scared.
I feel that I can’t focus on all the elements of the road, I have a very hard time calculating distances because I’m very short (edit: 1’50m, if that is relevant) and barely see above the wheel, I have to move the seat so close to the wheel that I fear that if one day the airbag jumps, I’ll suffocate. My blind spots seem infinite.
My car is automatic, so no stick to worry about.
If you have read all I wrote, I’ll greatly appreciate any advice or encouragement. Thank you
Same advice as for anything I guess, start small/easy and work your way up.
Familiarize yourself with all the controls of the vehicle, maybe read the manual if that won’t make your anxiety worse. You don’t want to be fumbling for a button when you’re driving.
Stay off the freeway if you can until you’re more familiar. Practice during non-busy times on non-busy roads.
Don’t be afraid to pull over and take a breather, especially if someone is tailgating you or something. Don’t let stress make decisions for you on the road. For example, If you are waiting for a safe opening to turn, don’t let the pressure of the line stacking up behind you force you into an unsafe scenario. Be patient.
Don’t be polite, be predictable!
If you see a ball roll into the street, there’s going to be a child right after it, be ready to stop.
Highway driving, generally speaking, is far safer than surface streets.
Sure, but its higher speeds and higher stress. You can’t just stop in the middle of the freeway if you need a second to calm down, but you can on a neighborhood back road at 9pm
It’s the ramps on and off.
In high traffic this can be terrifying for someone not familiar