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

  • sem@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    4·
    17 days ago

    Most of the time you don’t have to overtake a car. You can just follow them at a safe distance and eventually they will turn, or the road you’re on will widen into two lanes, letting you drive next to them. This is the safest option, and other cars can overtake you if they want. You can leave space in front of you.

    One time I was “stuck” behind a cement mixer for 20 minutes on a 2-lane road, and it felt like forever, but there were really no lasting repercussions. So if you don’t want to overtake another car, just don’t.

    Eventually as you are more comfortable with other aspects of driving, you might want to learn how on your own, staring on multi-lane roads.

    Merging onto a highway is something that takes a lot of practice, and I wasn’t good at it for a long time. The saving grace is that most other drivers are pretty good at avoiding accidents and if you are being predictable, it is OK if you aren’t perfect at it.

    I recommend finding your favorite on-ramp in the area, and ride as a passenger a few times. Watch how the driver checks for oncoming traffic, then gets up to speed, positions themselves, and joins behind or in front of another driver.