How easy did you find it to learn to drive?

[Suzanne]

So, my husband puts a brochure down on the table in front of me and it is of cars and excitedly went on to say that he visited a car hire shop for cars without license ( France) and said that they come in two forms: electric and another, that I cannot remember but apparently the same as for a ride on lawn mover.

What concerns me is that I struggle with doing several things at the same time and well, driving, you need your eyes on the road, on the mirrors front and back, so I worry that I will fail. We are intending hiring one for a day, so that I can practice.

These cars can only go at a speed of 40ks but can do 60ks and I cannot drive on big roads. None of this concerns me at all, for I just want to be able to do little things, to not feel so demoralized.

 

[watersprite]

I found just the driving part to be fairly fun and easy but not driving in traffic. (!) That takes all of my attention and energy. I have a hard time focusing all over the place the way one has to in order to be safe. There are some days I can tell I just am not comfortable with it, so I stay home.

 

[The Penguin]

Took me a while since I had no one to practice with but driving training. The first two lessons I had to stay in the parking lot. Other people took driving training that had someone to practice with was able to get out of the parking lot during the first lesson.

The driving training program is 10 lessons. I had to do 17 because I had no one to practice with. The good news is I past my road test on the first try.

 

[Nitro]

It was easy for me. I started out in a four wheeled motor vehicle at a very early age and owned my first true car at 14
My on my first car age 14 | AspiesCentral.com

 

[Suzanne]

So there is hope for me yet

 

[Progster]

It took me a while. At first it's hard, because it demands a lot of concentration, but then your mind, or body learns the act of driving itself, so things like changing gears and adjusting speed become automatic after a while, in the same way as writing, typing, or playing a video game can become automatic. If you can learn on private land away from public roads until it comes automatic you will find it easier, because you can concentrate on that alone and won't have the traffic to worry about. Also, you need someone calm to teach you who won't shout or criticise and make you lose confidence.

I find driving round my local area easy because there isn't much traffic, but driving in a city can be hellish. Roundabouts, switching lanes and joining streams of traffic are difficult for me.

 

[Nitro]

It took me a while. At first it's hard, because it demands a lot of concentration, but then your mind, or body learns the act of driving itself, so things like changing gears and adjusting speed become automatic after a while, in the same way as writing, typing, or playing a video game can become automatic. If you can learn on private land away from public roads until it comes automatic you will find it easier, because you can concentrate on that alone and won't have the traffic to worry about. Also, you need someone calm to teach you who won't shout or criticise and make you lose confidence.

I find driving round my local area easy because there isn't much traffic, but driving in a city can be hellish. Roundabouts, switching lanes and joining streams of traffic are difficult for me.

I never learned how to type properly

 

[Progster]

I never learned how to type properly

Yeah, I suck at it too, but most people are ok with it... I think.

 

[Nitro]

Yeah, I suck at it too, but most people are ok with it... I think.

Scott Fahlman a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Pa USA was given credit for the proposal of the smiley face emoticon in 1982

 

[Progster]

Scott Fahlman a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Pa USA was given credit for the proposal of the smiley face emoticon in 1982

I'm confused, could you please explain?

What has this got to do with driving... or typing?

 

[Nitro]

The smilie and frownie face emoticons were proposed by a maximum computer geek as a way of not typing out full words to convey a thought that was easy to understand what his feelings were to save him typing out everything in detail...it has a lot to do with lazy typing : - )

 

[Nitro]

There are no shortcuts to driving

 

[clg114]

I don't really remember, cars and traffic were very different 55 years ago. Like Nitro, I got my first car and drivers license when I was 14. I learned to drive before that, in bits & pieces.

 

[watersprite]

cig114, it'd be cool if you still had your first car.

 

[clg114]

cig114, it'd be cool if you still had your first car.

It was a 1951 Pontiac with a six cylinder flathead and a three speed manual transmission. Since I was young & dumb at the time, I put a floor shifter in it.

 

[annominous]

I didn't get my license until I was 19 because my family thought I had to learn to drive a manual transmission. It was horrible, I couldn't, I had a lot of meltdowns so I decided I 'couldn't drive'. I drive an automatic now. I'm bothered by drivers that don't obey road rules on the road, high traffic areas, and I have a terrible sense of direction. I used to get quite overwhelmed with direction until I discovered my phone will tell me where to go. I still get anxious about it sometimes, but have learned to control it to be safe on the road. Some drives I just won't do if it can be avoided, like driving to the city (Melbourne) from my town about an hour away. For that, I take trains and trams. It is good to have the freedom driving affords us.

 

[Nitro]

For insurance purposes at age 17,I took a driver's education class. I struggled with driving with both hands on the wheel at all times because of shifting. I had never driven a vehicle with an automatic transmission and had to wedge my left foot under the seat to keep from fully depressing the wider brake pedal with my left foot when coming to a stop like you have to with a clutch.

 

[wyverary]

Some say that you should first start learning to drive on a stick shift and I think that is a TERRIBLE idea. Driving can be complicated, with many things to juggle and once, and it's best that the student become familiar with the basics and master everything else before taking the leap to manual. I can't imagine how much different my education would have been had I been forced to start learning on a standard! Of course, once you do learn standard, it's like riding a bicycle. Nowadays I only drive stick shifts.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I'm 23 and have tried learning several times. I think all those times, what made me give up is cause (1) my parents, the ones teaching me, had no idea i'm an aspie and have issues dividing up my attention like that and processing so much info at once, and (2) dad literally would just say 'drive', there was no schedule and that made my already wrecked nerves worse. I think with a patient, understanding instructor who understood my issues (instead of just pushing them aside), and a clear schedule of what we'd do when, i would have done better learning. I still can't drive, as it is. Personally, i think if they had simulators for learning to drive that would help a lot...somebody should invent them...cause i have issues judging distance between me and even parked cars, too.

 

[annominous]

I think it's valuable to acknowledge when you are unable to drive. Too many people think they can drive and they can't drive for *(#@, are overconfident and cause the majority of accidents and deaths on the road. I sincerely value people who know that driving isn't for them. I think it's useful to give learning how a go if possible, simply because of the freedom it can give us, especially if you're not in an area with good public transport. That said, I am always bothered by the shaming of non-driving people, as though folks are somehow worth less if they don't operate a motor vehicle. I think knowing our own limits should be celebrated, especially when knowing our own limits protects other people!

I have had a few friends try to cheer me on about making the drive to the city from my town, or insist that somehow THEY are the ones who will be able to 'show me how'. That's annoying. I know how I feel about it, and I know the level of anxiety I feel about it would make other people unsafe, so I don't do it! I do believe I will be able to do it, in my own time and in my own way - in my own time and in my own way being the operative and most important part of that.