Shebakoby
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 06, 2009
Age: 40
Posts: 1566
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 Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:25 am Post subject: |
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oh god no I have like 0 trouble driving. Now, I dun wanna sound like I'm bragging here, but I have a hyper-alert state of mind that helps me pick out things that could potentially be a problem, without throwing me into a panic. Like that time it snowed and I was coming towards a curve in the road, and a big truck was coming the other way around the curve, and I was POSITIVE he was going to slide, so I stayed back ahead of where I figured he'd slide into, gave myself plenty of room, and I was right! And didn't get slid into.  |
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nolan1971
Toucan
Joined: May 13, 2012
Age: 41
Posts: 290
Location: Gainesville FL
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| Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 4:02 pm Post subject: Response |
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| Not at all. I prefer the highway because there is usually less traffic. Although I can't stand traffic congestion that gets me stressed! |
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Outer_Darkness
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Jun 09, 2011
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I never had to drive much until a few months ago. I drive OK but try to avoid major highways unless it's absolutely necessary. |
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MarthaCannary
Sea Gull
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 243
Location: Unicomplex
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 3:56 am Post subject: |
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I love cars!!! I love driving "spiritedly" I like working on cars, well, cars before 1986-ish, carbs and no computers! It just makes sense. air, fuel, spark, zoom. Mechanics and engineering have always as far back as I can remember just absolutely fascinated me, learned everything I could about cars, trucks, small engines, trains, ships. Now I can go for a ride in almost any car and tell you whats wrong with it, just by listening, much to my boyfriends dismay....
I don't do night driving very well, photosensitive and random head light flashes in pitch black daze me. Not enough stimuli to keep me entertained for long night drives on the highway. Considering installing a HUD on the dash and using super bright IR LED's and a decent HD webcam.... for the long dark stretches you know...
During the day though, look out!  
My car isn't very fast or powerful. But in the city it's a blast to drive, for a 26 year old Honda Civic hatchback.
1300cc's of raw power, 5spd with a centerforce stage 2 racing clutch.
After a fresh coat of Porsche Arctic Silver and a few coats of clear. I wub my Civic!
Picture resized
That little guy is my best friend Stewie. |
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Martens
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: May 14, 2012
Age: 21
Posts: 47
Location: Three meters below sea level.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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I can't believe no one here likes to drive cars.
I love it!
Somehow I am very good at it to, I see every little thing. Which is important if you live in a bike/tourist infested city like I do. Maybe it is the AS I don't know.
But at night, I just can't handle oncoming traffic with their headlights. Even if it is dimmed I can't see a thing. |
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mike_br
Sea Gull
Joined: Apr 23, 2012
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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I love to drive, but hate heavy traffic.
The stress and anxiety kills me, and I may have a meltdown... happened twice in my life... not proud. |
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volkerjaan
Hummingbird
Joined: Jun 01, 2012
Age: 32
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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I've never managed to pass driving licence exams.
Driving was the most diffucult thing on earth I've ever tried. To decide when it is possible to change the lane was too much, until I've analysed the situation it has twice changed.... |
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Moonpenny
Raven
Joined: May 06, 2012
Posts: 121
Location: UK
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| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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I found it very, very hard to learn to drive. I can do one thing at a time, which means either control the car or look where I'm going – not both! Once I'd managed to learn manipulate the controls automatically through muscle memory, though, I became a good driver and for the most part I enjoy driving. As long as it's daylight and there's no-one else in the car...
I don't often have to drive anyone else around as I have no partner or children, but I do go out wildlife watching with a friend sometimes. She pushes my wheelchair around the nature reserves, so I do the driving. It's sooooo difficult to drive and hold a conversation at the same time, I've never got on top of it. I reckon my driving abilities go down by at least 15% when there's just someone else present in the car and even more if they're feeling chatty.
Worse still is going to new places. I can get lost after one turning, and spend most of my time pulling over to have yet another look at the map. I do have a sat-nav now, which helps enormously, but I persistently misunderstand the instructions it gives out (e.g., 'After 400 yards, keep left' – but I only hear the last bit and filter left as soon as I see the next opportunity, irrespective of how far away it is), so I still get lost. My lack of any sense of direction at all is a real disability; the inability to follow verbal instructions varies with how tired I am. I get badly lost with the sat-nav on my way home from somewhere far more often than on the way there.
I hate driving at night, especially on fast unlit roads. I get totally dazzled by the oncoming headlights, and can't see very well for a few seconds after I've passed another car – really dangerous. I'll only do it if I have absolutely no other alternative, which of course means I don't get practice at it; which in turn makes it more difficult. |
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Herman
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Jul 04, 2010
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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I dont drive because I dont trust myself. I have always had a tendency to "zone out" . I have done it my whole life, just stare into space and go into another world. I use a bike for transport and I even zone out while riding, have to make a real effort to concentrate.
In addition to this I have some narcolepsy time symptoms, triggered by vibrations/humming just like you get in a motorised vehicle. If it is just right I can fall into a deep asleep instantly. |
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Vomelche
Deinonychus
Joined: Nov 18, 2011
Age: 28
Posts: 376
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| having a lot of anxiety from work makes driving a real chore, been in a few accidents cuz of it, used to be a fine driver though when i started, but had to drive to every job since then and now I hate it |
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thewhitrbbit
Phoenix
Joined: May 31, 2012
Age: 27
Posts: 2154
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| Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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| I love driving. |
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Mychal
Emu Egg
Joined: Jun 17, 2012
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:39 am Post subject: I learned to like driving |
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I like driving now, but I didn't when I first started. My mother made me get my license and take driving lessons at age 17, so that I could learn to be more independent. It was very stressful keep track of everything at once, maintaining a certain speed, knowing how much to turn the wheel or how much pressure was needed on the pedals, uncertainty about what other vehicles were going to do.
Parking and highway driving were the two hardest parts for me. I still have a difficult time parking - I haven't parallel parked or backed-in to a space since my last driving exam 10 years ago. I've only been in two accidents, both times I hit a parked car while trying to exit a space. Getting on and off the highway ramps was hardest because I couldn't gauge how fast the other cars were going in order to merge. Highway driving was so anxiety inducing, but now I've nearly completely overcome my fears after years of practice - where I live, it is very hard to avoid commuting, so I didn't have a lot of choice but to practice. Mind you, going to a new place is very stressful for me because I am directionally challenged - I have a GPS, but as others have mentioned, it doesn't always help because I can't always react in time to it's directions.
Things that work for me:
- I didn't use the radio for the first two or three years, one less thing to distract me
- mastered on-ramps by having a patient friend in the passenger seat giving me advice if I had room to merge and what speed I should be going at, and with time I learned to do it on my own
- I don't offer to drive people, especially when it's somewhere I'm unfamiliar with
- GPS helps, but I still look at my route ahead of time, plus I try and right down markers or street names so that if I pass them I know I've missed a turn
- learning to drive defensively (a.k.a trying to anticipate the mistakes and pitfalls of the other drivers, so that you can react appropriately and avoid collisions) really reduced my fears of other people doing stupid stuff and disobeying the rules
- practice and exposure does make things better if you can overcome the anxiety in the first place
Things I still struggle with:
- parking is always a challenge, I just park far away and walk and I try and give myself extra time if I know I'm going somewhere where this might be required
- night driving with all of the glare and halos around lights is overwhelm - my partner usually does the night driving
- winter weather and heavy rain can still be very anxiety inducing because it's a lot of extra visual stimuli and it also changes the road conditions |
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MarthaCannary
Sea Gull
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 243
Location: Unicomplex
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| Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:12 am Post subject: Re: I learned to like driving |
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| Mychal wrote: | Things I still struggle with:
- parking is always a challenge, I just park far away and walk and I try and give myself extra time if I know I'm going somewhere where this might be required
- night driving with all of the glare and halos around lights is overwhelm - my partner usually does the night driving
- winter weather and heavy rain can still be very anxiety inducing because it's a lot of extra visual stimuli and it also changes the road conditions |
-Parking: Practice practice practice. Reverse parking and reversing with mirrors took me a long time to learn, Now I can reverse a B-train (Big rig and two full length trailers) I've only done it once but it was gratifying.
- Night driving: The glare is bad for me, all the flashing lights from store signs to tail lights to those super f'ing bright LED billboards dazzle me. My ability drive between parked cars on a single lane diminishes, I can't judge distances as well. I think your halo problem might be from a need for glasses or time for a new prescription.
- Winter driving: Got me there, I LOVE WINTER DRIVING!!!! I drive a super light car, but in the winter I throw on a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 studded tires and it's like driving on dry summer roads. One winter when we were delivering pizza's for something to do at night in the dead of winter with ice on all the roads, I only had studs on the front tires and bald all seasons on the back, So. Much. Fun. Heel-toe down into second just before the apex of the turn, give the wheel a touch of opposite lock from the direction I need to go, hit the apex and flick the wheel back in the direction I need to go, upsetting the balance of the car breaking loose traction to the rear wheels, power through rest of corner by giving dashes and dabs of the throttle, going generally slideways. No need for e-braking..... Sorry, I just really love winter driving. 
- Heavy rain: Yeah, I just find the nearest place to pull over and stop. When it gets bad enough that I can't "see" then I'm a hazard and I have to get off the road.
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"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal" |
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RazorEddie
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 19, 2012
Age: 42
Posts: 608
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| Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: I learned to like driving |
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| MarthaCannary wrote: | | Winter driving: Got me there, I LOVE WINTER DRIVING!!!! |
I know what you mean. Here in the UK, even a small amount of snow panics most people. They either stay off the roads or end up in a ditch. I just get out the trials car - light weight, rear wheel drive, plenty of power and summer tyres. Perfect ingredients for sideways fun on virtually deserted roads The only down side is the lack of doors and puny heater.
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I stopped fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now. |
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anarchybovine
Deinonychus
Joined: Jan 01, 2010
Age: 19
Posts: 377
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:04 am Post subject: |
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I'm 19 and I still don't have my driver's license. I did take driver's ed at 16 and got my learner's permit at 17, but it's been expired for almost a year now. I gave up on learning to drive over a year ago. It's something I have very minimal interest in. I live in small town with no public transportation and the closest big-box store is 15 miles from my house, so I have to bum rides off of other people, which is a hassle. I'm hoping to move to Milwaukee soon, so I don't have to bum rides off of other people.
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"Luck favors the prepared."- Catherine Keener
"I'm just not conservative. I dress according to what I like. And I'm not a mannequin." - Helena Bonham Carter |
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