Anxious driver’s, how did you become more comfortable/at ease with driving?

8 comments

1. Honestly, by doing it alone. I found that I was not actually an anxious driver, but internalized the whole “women can’t drive” schtick.

   Get comfortable with roads and routes you know, stay out of the fast lane, drive a vehicle with windows you can see out of

2. i overcame it by doing it constantly 🙂 practiced alone a hundred times and eventually developed some trust in my reflexes and instincts. learned a lot about defensive driving to protect myself. had to familiarize myself with looking at the different mirrors bc my spatial awareness is meh.

   basically gentle exposure therapy 🙂

3. I looked up every route beforehand on google maps step by step and drove at low traffic times. Again and again and again. Pushed myself for new routes or was pushed by circumstances or work. It took a long time, but i got there. Btw I was not anxious I was TERRIFIED

4. I got my license when I was a senior in high school. Lots of practice just driving alone, listening to the radio. On the weekends I would make a day of driving the scenic route to a small tourist town, the round trip total was about 3 – 4 hours. It was beautiful and very relaxing.

5. I got my license very recently. I booked lessons to help me with that. Something about an instructor confirming that I am good, and giving feedbacks on what/how can I improve helped me a lot. And after that I just drive whenever I get the chance even if I wouldn’t feel like it just to get more practice in. Also I have those magnetic stickers that says Student/new Driver please be patient which definitely helps. And my husband is still with me whenever I drive more than just giving a round around my neighborhood lol

   Also I noticed my pattern is that I need to slow down when I panic instead I end up either speeding more or making sharp turns. And also making sure to slowly nudge myself towards driving alone.

6. Turn on some calm music that’s in your vocal range so you don’t have to strain your throat and sing while you’re driving.

7. So i’m 21 … just got my drivers licenses and now working toward a car. But i was always scared of not my driving but other people driving , the ones on the phone or looking somewhere else and causes crashes. I just slowly drove around my neighborhood, as slow as i thought i needed too then just worked my way up from there doing a little more and more until it slowly felt like second nature. I still have some fear but i became confident in my ability to know what i’m doing and what to look out for

8. GPS made it a lot easier. I could pay attention to driving without trying to find turns and landmarks.