Driving

[RemyZee]

My main issue with driving is related to my mild narcolepsy. If I sit comfortably for more than a few minutes with minimal activity (like open road driving), I start falling asleep. I have to stay busy when I drive. I have a large mp3 collection for the stereo, and my car is basically a rolling Ham Radio station, so I can talk all over the world when I'm not doing the music thing.
Of course, I Hate congested traffic. I will go 50 miles out of my way if I can keep moving vs stop and go.
I only buy vehicles with manual transmission. That helps keep me busy and therefore alert while driving. It doesn't seem like multi-tasking. It sort of makes it seem as if the car is an extension of my body.

Until recently I've nearly always had a manual transmission. It somehow holds a pe

 

[RemyZee]

Hearing so much feedback from autistic people over the years, I'm inclined to think that many of us have deficits in terms of things like multitasking. A skill one definitely needs while driving in any number of conditions.

I think of this a lot every time I pull up to the mail kiosk where I live. You have to go through a roundabout (circle) to get there. Going in I just have to check to the left, then to the right. However when I back out, I actually have to consider traffic potentially coming and going from four different directions. Which can be taxing to say the least. And of course the older I get, the slower my reflexes are likely to become.

I'm just grateful to have radar in my car that warns me of traffic coming at me from behind, or left or right at more than 180 degrees. In other words, it "sees" the blind spots I can't.

It happens with reading as well. It's like my eyes won't always follow things, so I'm constantly going back over what I'm reading, because the words bounce around and my eyes won't stay on one thing. Maybe neurological.

 

[Misty Avich]

It seems that a lot of autistics, even the lower functioning, drive a car.
I passed my test and have a license, but I never had a car of my own. It might be because I work in a bus garage and so was issued a free travel pass on any bus service in England, so I see that as a privilege and saves me from having to have the financial responsibility of a car. Also, if I'm honest, I'm scared to drive, due to my short attention span and my nerves. It took me 3 years of driving lessons to pass my test, due to my nerves, lack of confidence, and difficulty learning and storing new information.

 

[AprilR]

I don't drive. I am not good with multitasking, have anxiety about accidents and my biggest issue is i can't "read" how drivers will behave. Like if a car slows down a bit, i cant understand whether it will eventually stop or not. I also have no sense of direction

 

[Neri]

I don't drive and I'm 50 but I still have hopes of getting my license and driving. I've started the process in the past and loved it. Being newly diagnosed with ASD and ADHD I'm hopeful of getting meds to help with the ADHD to help me feel more focused and confident to get my license. I'm also eligible for disability support now that I'm diagnosed with ASD2 and can have driving as one of my goals in my plan that provides funding for support. Sometimes, I really love being an Australian!

 

[A Fluffy Gray Cat]

I drive, and have been told that I'm a good driver, but I don't feel as comfortable on the road some days, which is unfortunate for when I inevitably have to drive more frequently. The most I do at the moment is do short drives in my area.

What makes me uncomfortable for the most part is knowing how much my mind goes way off, either from autism or ADHD. I can't drive much with CDs or a radio playing, and I currently get really tense on freeways, especially at exits. It's draining to say the least to drive.

 

[Gerontius]

I didn't want to learn to drive. Only got licensed at seventeen and a half, and I drive a 90s compact Toyota because it's spartan and cheap and Barely Adequate. It's okay but I drive as little as possible.

It's been broken down for weeks.

Speed limits are fine, and I wish people would quit treating roads as a racetrack or buying a new car as an arms race.

I have been on my bicycle more with the car broken and am convinced every day that the standard bicycle is infinitely preferable to the automobile for the majority of driving.

 

[Judge]

I don't drive. I am not good with multitasking, have anxiety about accidents and my biggest issue is i can't "read" how drivers will behave. Like if a car slows down a bit, i cant understand whether it will eventually stop or not. I also have no sense of direction

Excellent point. IMO multitasking is the one most complex aspect of operating a motor vehicle in a congested environment.

Something I'm acutely aware of given all the "roundabouts" (circles) we have in Nevada. With perpetually moving traffic from multiple directions. And this is just a three-way example:

 

[A Fluffy Gray Cat]

Excellent point. IMO multitasking is the one most complex aspect of operating a motor vehicle in a congested environment.

Something I'm acutely aware of given all the "roundabouts" (circles) we have in Nevada. With perpetually moving traffic from multiple directions. And this is just a three-way example:

View attachment 121636

We got new roundabouts in my area within the past couple years and at first it was nightmare to navigate because nobody knew who had the right of way with them. People have warmed up to them now thankfully, which is good because now the flow of traffic in those areas is way better.

 

[Ken]

I feel I do well driving. Never any accidents in all my decades of driving. Most of the time I enjoy it. For most of my life, I have only driven manual cars. For me, that is not multitasking. It seems so natural that it is just part of the drive. I'm never actually conscious of it.

The problem I have, however is social. If I'm driving with a passenger, I feel their eyes and judgment smothering me like a thick lead blanket. It's extremely inhibiting and my anxiety is always teetering on meltdown. Sometimes I do meltdown.

 

[Judge]

We got new roundabouts in my area within the past couple years and at first it was nightmare to navigate because nobody knew who had the right of way with them. People have warmed up to them now thankfully, which is good because now the flow of traffic in those areas is way better.

I try to watch the closest vehicle coming towards me...and particularly their proximity to the lines where one is supposed to yield versus where you actually enter the roundabout. The worst of it is that most people tend to just drive right through into the roundabout, without contemplating who gets there first. Probably because they focus only on a single entrance to the roundabout instead of the likelihood of multiple cars entering in the same time frame.

I just try to keep my eyes on where they are, and whether it's safe to enter. But it seems seldom that I can expect others to follow the real sequence of who should yield to whom. Making them precarious when there are two, three or even four cars approaching the roundabout at the same time.

LOL....in other words even though they've been here for years, people still don't understand or don't care who actually has the right of way. All made worse by some roundabouts that have blind turns/entrances where so many drivers just plow through without slowing down mostly because they just don't see other drivers entering the roundabout.