Comments on: How to Overcome Fear of Driving A Car

By: Mandy

Mandy — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:48:23 +0000

Hey, I am 22 years old. I have had my drivers license for about a year. I had my “learners” permit for 4 years prior to taking my test, as I could not get over the fear. Thinking about driving brings on major panic attacks that leave me nauseated and crying. Since, I got into a pretty scary accident where I almost flipped my car and did successfully shoot off the road into a bush and completely totaled my car. I was injured, and 6 months later I am still in pain from my accident. I’ve pretty much given up on the fact that I will ever drive again, and I’ve come to accept that I will pretty much live a limited life because I am not able to drive. I am not able to get whatever job I want, as I am limited to the available bus hours(which also give me panic attacks ever since someone was stabbed in the head on the main bus on my street), and I am simply not able to visit family or friends unless they come to me. Sad? Yeah. I just don’t know how to tell myself that I will be okay and alive if I drive, and believe it. I’m kind of looking for advice to see if anything would help, but I’m really not expecting anything to help. Someone suggested I take more driving lessons, but I used to put my driving instructor into a panic as well. I don’t know if you’ve had a panic attack bad enough to make the person next to you freak out too, but it really doesn’t help your situation when you’re looking to them for guidance. Any ideas?

By: mel

mel — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:11:32 +0000

Hello,I am 25 years old.with three kids. I used to fear driving.I just Gog in my van and said I can drive.I kept practicing and practicing.We can over come anything and we can accomplish anything.just have to set our minds to our goals in life.Self driven is the road to success in everyday life. Say a prayer and ask God to help control the wheel he will.He doesn’t give up on us so we can’t give up on ourselves.life is what we make it.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:24:17 +0000

I’m 23 and never had my licence, I’m scared because I don’t want to be the one to make a mistake and end up ending someone else’s life much less mine, everyone keeps telling me GET YOUR LICENCE GET YOUR LICENCE but no one seems to understand I’m scared, they just tell me I’m stupid for thinking that, I don’t mind driving down my parents dirt road but as far as the road i just dont know if i could or not I wish I could overcome this and people would help me instead of criticize me for it, I have never really had the urge to go out and learn, But I think my problem is when i was really little my sunday school teacher and 2 other women got killed in a bad wreck and ever since then it just scared me. I need help, I want help

By: Charlene

Charlene — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:37:52 +0000

For the past month or so I am having anxiety while driving at night. I see cars coming at me from the left and the right. I tried staying in the right lane as long as I can but the traffic merging on to the highway frightens me too. I need help. If the weather is clear, I do m uch better. However, if it is raining or foggy out, the anxiety overcomes me. I am getting very scared. I have asked for an accomodation to leave work an hour early so I don’t have to drive in the darkness. I can’t see the road. I reached out to my eye doctor who says there is a need for glasses. After 3 attempts I finally picked up my new glasses last night. I will try and wear them to see if this helps with seeing the road better. The highway keeps changing due to construction so that does not help. I h ave to only drive 16 miles each way and I seem to do well in the morning to work. I don’t have anxiety so it has to be the darkness. I wish I could find help. I have a call out to my medical doctor. I feel like I am going to crash and die on the highway.

By: Texas gal

Texas gal — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:08:06 +0000

Hi, I am 54 yrs. old and like the other people who have written comments, I have anxienty moments about driving. My husband is so cool and supportive; however, I know he feels I should drive. Only if I take it “baby steps”. I drove before, but gave up when I didn’t have a car. Now is the big challenge, he is suppose to go in for medical test and I am suppose to drive him home. (Lord, help me)! I am going to try the simple brain reprogramming exercise. I hope it works. Good luck to you all!

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:23:38 +0000

i am 31 years old, and i have the worst fear of driving in the world.i actually took my written test and passed, but haven’t gotten much further.my husband and i only have a truck for me to learn in but im terrified because its huge to me,and i guess after reading all your stories,i have figured out that im scared that i will hit something or someone,or crash, or…im just scared to even attempt busy traffic.people down me because of my handicap….i feel less of a person because i cant drive. im afraid that the people who are teaching me will get mad if i do something wrong…idk…i’ve gotta do something.i know that GOD will take my fear away…im just waiting..if anyone has advice,it will be appreciated

By: Toni

Toni — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 04:17:43 +0000

I am now 25, i started learning to drive at very early age 12 or 13, but the car was automatic, I only drove over the weekends, I’ve always had a fear of driving manual, I felt i couldnt control the car well enough and just not used to the extra pedal. I never got my licence, and haven’t had the automatic car for a long time. I haven’t driven in a long time and when I did drive, it wasn’t often enough to gain confidence in my driving.

My fear now is that I am out of practice and im ashamed to be learning at my age. It’s has really affected my life, i have missed out on a lot in live, simply because i don’t drive. I keep putting it off, but the fact is, im only getting older, and the longer I wait, the harder it’ll get. So before i get any older, I am going to make a serious effort to get in the car and practice, atleast 30 minutes a day.

I’ve never crashed a car, but when i was 13yo my dad was teaching me and i lost control by leaving the clutch too quickly and it scared the hell out of me, so my real fear is the clutch pedal, and changing gears. I will try to pretend i am driving an auto, except when i need to take off or change gears, but its been years since i drove any type of car. When i do drive, i drive pretty well, but it still makes me nervous.

I’ve also had this fear of being hit from behind, i’ll look in the rear view mirror and panic when I see a car, then drive faster, this sometimes caused me to take the bend too fast, squeeling the tires because i was afraid to slow down infront of other cars. I will try to tell myself, “they’ve got brakes too, just slow down gradually and nobody will hit you”.

The only way to conquer this fear is to get into the car, put some music on and take it slow. I can’t go another day without making an effort to learn and conquer.

By: mehitable

mehitable — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:49:43 +0000

I learned how to drive when I was 25, always hated, hated, hated, hated, hated it, but fortunately lived in a big city with plenty of public transportation so I never needed to drive and rarely missed it. Now however, I’ve had to move out to the suburbs because we can’t afford the city – literally – and now I’m in a position where after over 20 years….I have to relearn. I have a license, but I’m relearning with my boyfriend, and it’s really hard. I not only have a fear of driving, I absolutely HATE driving. I don’t even like being a passenger frequently. Can’t stand highways. One thing I would like to say to everyone who has this fear or hatred of driving is….STOP BLAMING YOURSELF. You’re RIGHT to be afraid!!! Driving is one of the most dangerous activities you can ever engage in! Tens of thousands of people die or are badly injured in car crashes every year! It’s common. And it costs tons of money. Traffic sucks. The whole process of driving DOES suck. You actually are far more intelligent than the ordinary person in your hatred and/or fear of driving. It is completely RATIONAL to hate and fear driving. Those people who don’t….just don’t have enough brains to take it seriously. They’re unaware of the damage they could do. That’s why kids take to driving so easily – they have such limited awareness.

It’s really unfortunate that our society is built so much on cars and individual driving as the answer here really IS more and better public transportation. Many if not most, of the people who are driving….shouldn’t be. Whether they are afraid or not.

So STOP BLAMING YOURSELF for your fear. STOP FEELING GUILTY. You are actually RIGHT to feel fearful. It just means you’re smarter and more aware than the average bear.

So….now that you hopefully will stop blaming yourself and feeling guilty and ashamed….most of you – and me – unfortunately need to master this skill until we actually get public transportation. I think the way to do that, and what I am doing, is to do a little at a time each day until you feel reasonably comfortable in limited situations. Try to drive for 15 minutes each day at least, and then work up to maybe a half hour. Drive in deserted areas or parking lots. Graveyards if you can. Then work up to more trafficked areas.

Accept your fear. It’s sensible and will probably make you a better driver. If you feel physically ill, you might need hypnosis, or therapy or maybe even meds to control general anxiety. And accept that while you can improve a great deal…there are some things you may never be able to do. I will NEVER be able to drive on a highway. But I don’t want to and I would do virtually anything to avoid it as I know I am a poor driver and will always be a danger to myself and others. That’s not negative thinking…it’s just reality. Be realistic with yourself, accept your limitations but realize you can improve somewhat, and most importantly, STOP KICKING YOURSELF. YOU are in the right, it is the society that forces you to drive in an individual car, which is dangerous and wasteful, that is WRONG.

By: Crystal B

Crystal B — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:43:51 +0000

Hi, I am 26 years old and have this ridiculous fear of drving, at the age of 19 I was involved in a bad car crash with a intoxicated driver and every since my fear has magnetized. Not knowing how to drive has hindered so many aspects of my life, I virually have no social life outside of work, take on-line courses for school and pretty soon I will not be able to continue taking on-line courses and will have to drive to school. I live in texas which is very big and full of highways. I am so embarrassed of my situation and have pushed friends away before they find out that I do not know how to drive .I want that freedom that driving allows and for once I am not going to give up and just do it. once I conquer my fear I won’t feel as trapped and lonely and continue a productive life w/o needing others to drive me around. I am so glad that I ran across this website because I thought I was all alone in this situation but realize that is the first step I have made into conquering my fear.

By: Makiah

Makiah — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:32:20 +0000

I’m 21 and I just recently obtained my permit. I’ve had some instructional driving from teachers at drivers courses, but I hate every minute I’m in a car. I get car sick just being in a car. When I drive I get very hot, and I feel really aware of my surroundings. The problem is my teacher doesn’t see things the same way. I can’t judge depth perception on the road even though my vision has been checked and cleared. I always feel like a car is going to blindside me. it happens alot, and people make it seem like its as rare as winning the lottery or something. If my teacher didn’t have the emergency brake on his side of the car, we could have gotten into serious accidents many times.

While in a vehicle, I get really sick to my stomach, and my eyes begin to twinge. I can’t concentrate on the road because I’m thinking of so many things at once. I hate how a car continuously moves unless you tell it not to. A car should go as I command, and stop as I command. My freaking lawn mower does this and everything’s easy. That concept should be implemented into a car. As it is now, I press the brakes instead of the gas and vice versa. I can’t do all that multi tasking. I start drifting off at that point. I have a huge problem focusing. As such, I often have to ask for rides, and people get upset with me. Nobody wants to spend time with me because of this, and it ruins my already embarrassing reputation. People tell me to get over it. I feel like killing the next person who says that. They don’t understand what its like to not be able to properly drive. My life is boring, cynical, and meaningless as a result. I just want to be able to have fun for the first time in my life, and part of that is getting a better body…which requires a gym…which requires a car to get there. I can’t rely on people anymore. People will soon learn that everybody’s expendable.