I don’t enjoy driving, but it doesn’t bother me. I am averaging about 2500 miles a year. My wife, however, refuses to drive. She doesn’t admit to being afraid. One thing is that she freezes if she has to make a sudden decision. Maybe a GPS would help so she would never get lost.
I don’t like to drive, and I used to be fearful of certain driving experiences (such as merging on to the highway – once I was on the highway I was fine). But, I had some circumstances where there was no other choice but to merge onto multiple highways to get where I needed to be, and yeah, I was definitely white knuckle at times, but I had to get over it, and through exposure, I did. Slowly I went from “white knuckle” to “a bit nervous” to “pretty okay with it.”
If you’ve been “out of the driving game” so to speak for some time, some driving lessons from a professional to get your confidence up would probably be money well spent. I was a very anxious driver when I first started driving, and lessons helped a lot.
I’m only afraid of driving places I’ve never driven before. And of the Beltway. Any trip where I’ll have to make a lot of turns and take a lot of exits makes me nervous because I’m petrified to miss one. Things are better since I got a GPS for my car, but I still have a lot of anxiety.
Experience makes it better - when I have no choice, I can do it. I don’t like it, and I get out of the car shaking like a leaf at my destination, but I can get there. After I’ve done it a few times it’s easier. For some things, though (like the terrifying Beltway) I will go out of my way to find an easier route even if it will take a lot longer.
My anxiety is centered around “OMG I’m gonna die out here” more than “OMG I could kill people with this car”, though. I have a selfish anxiety.
Oh, it’s okay. Like I said, it’s been a year (yes!), since I had a seizure, and I could probably be cleared to drive. But for now, the risk just isn’t worth it.
I’m not so much afraid to drive, as I’m afraid of having a seizure while doing so. And yes, the PAT buses here in Pittsburgh are pretty good. They’ve cut out a lot of routes, sadly, but I can still get by. And like I said, it’s cheaper – and more environmentally friendly! And with the price of gas what it is, it’s just less of a hassle.
(Besides, I would imagine that my insurance rates would be a lot higher than usual. I can’t even imagine how my grandfather managed to get insurance, especially since he tended to drive like a maniac even if he WASN’T having seizures!)