Aspies For Freedom

I'm a better driver (by than I mean safer) than my NT husband.  He likes speed, where anything faster than 80 kph freaks me out.  I drive like a grandma, apparently.  But I've never had a motor accident (except once when I was stopped at a red light and some fool drove into me) and never had so much as a parking ticket.  Where I grew up, there was no option but to drive; it was on a farm out in the country and no public transport.  You either drove or walked.  Plus I was expected to be able to help out around the farm, including driving tractors when required, so I learnt fairly quickly.  Of course, having hundreds of hectares of paddock to bump along over helps, the only thing you might hit is a few dozy sheep!
My daughter is trying to learn now, but is finding it very heavy going.  She has to learn on the roads and the fast-moving cars really freak her out.  But I have confidence she'll work it out in the end.  And there's no hurry, we have a reasonable bus system in the city I live and either her father or I are happy to drive her wherever she needs to go.
Alison

I got my license when I was 16--my parents made me.  I drove for 2 years, then didn't.  Then got a car when I was 27, drove it for 2 years, and basically haven't driven since (that was 30 years ago).  I don't trust my reflexes or concentration or depth perception.  It means I'm restricted in where I can live, but I like living in the city, so as long as I can find employment, I figure I'm fine.  I won't have to totally change my life style when I get older, at least not for this reason.  My 84 year old Mom, though, is going to be in big trouble when she can no longer drive.

Good for you!  Bicycles are good for the environment and for personal health.  I used to ride when younger.  Now I walk to work, seeing as it's just down the road.  When driving is unavoidable I have a tiny two-door Daewoo.  I usually only have to fill up every other month with petrol, and it runs on the smell of an oily rag.  

I can't stand the big four wheel drive vehicles you see on the road so many of these days.  Their owners all grizzle about how much petrol it takes to run them, and when you ask why they just don't get a smaller car, the reply is always "Oh, but we have a lot of kids to transport!"  Despite the fact that whenever I see them being driven they are usually only transporting one or two people.  What about having less kids in the first place?  NTs!  
Alison

Driving would probably be easy for me without idiot drivers forgetting to use their turn signals and popping out of random areas.

I don't know how to drive yet though. I'm simply theorizing.

I was discussing this thread with my husband along the lines of "I'm so glad I have no trouble driving, even as an Aspie", and he said, "Are you kidding?  You drive like a grandma: 60 kph in an 80 zone, typically, and you have to admit, you suck at parallel parking!"

Thinking about it, I have to agree with him.  I'll go kilometres out of my way to find nose-in parking rather than park between two cars on the street, even when there's tons of room. To me, the cars at either end loom and seem to fill all the available space and I end up a metre from the kerb!  

So it seems I do have a few typically Autistic sensory difficulties after all.  Out, Damn Spot!

Alison

I was also one of just a few at school who didn't want to get their  learner driver's licence as soon as they turned 17. The prospect of driving terrified me. I finally got my driver's and a car when I was 27 and drove for a few years.

The main issues I had were lack of confidence in anything other than nose-in parking, extreme dislike of being hemmed in by city traffic and difficulty in concentrating on more than one thing at a time. As a result, I probably drove a bit too cautiously.

I learned to drive (eventually - it took 24 hours of lessons) when I was 18. I passed my test in 1976 and then immediately switched to motorcycles (passed test in 1978). I didn't drive a car again until 1982, and needed refresher lessons before buying one.

I eventually got confident enough to work as a chauffeur and then a taxi-driver.

I think we just need to have patience with ourselves. If it takes a long time to learn, then so be it. I understand the financial problems though. I spent a whole day's income every week on my lessons.

I have never driven when I do not feel well. These days I don't drive much!

There's so many cute small cars available nowadays that I'd really like to buy one and start driving again, but even second-hand I don't think I could afford one and I'd still be really nervous about city driving.

Funny that, my parents never had any cars when I was growing up. My next youngest brother was the first to buy a vehicle, when he was 18 and I was 19. His was a bright red Subaru station wagon. He tried to teach me how to drive sometime later but I got too agitated and nervous and it was a few more years before I had professional driving lessons and it took 26 hours of driving lessons before I got my licence on the 2nd try.

I had a Mitsubishi colt coloured custard yellow for several years but while I was married, it was traded in for a Mitsubishi Magna which I didn't get to keep when the break up happened.

It's just that there are so many cute small cars now and in some really nice metallic shades too (some of them). A friend has offered to sell me his in a year or so but I might not have the dosh unfortunately. I convinced him not to trade it in this year because it is a really good car.

My daughter Lauren today passed the Road Ready course and has gotten her first "Learner" Driver's License!  

Here in Australia you're not allowed to learn to drive until you've passed the theoretical course, and Lauren got 100% correct!  I'm so proud of her!  She was stressing out about it for a week beforehand and gave herself a flare-up of her IBS cramps, but she went along to the Road Ready course, well-dosed with codeine (poor kid) and passed with flying colours.  

We then went to the Road and Traffic Authority, she sat for her photo and received her Learner's License.  I plan to take her out to the Old Federal Highway outside of Canberra tomorrow and let her practise driving out there.  

It used to be the main road to the coast, but a new freeway superseded it a few years back and it's now only used as an access road for the farms along the way, so it's little-used.  It should be perfect for her to get the hang of driving along, since it's still in pretty good nick, and she can go as slowly as she likes until she's more confident.

So now our family has three (potential) drivers!

Alison

My parents would not let me take driver's ed as a teenager.  I have no idea why but they let all my siblings.  When I was 21, I paid for my own lessons.  I needed extra lessons.  After I got my driver's licence my parents would still not let me use their car.  When I was 28 I bought a car.  I mostly drove around the neighbourhood for a few weeks until I got used to that.   Then I went a few places with one of my brothers explaining stuff to me:  when to signal, what to watch for in other drivers etc.  

I got almost quite good at driving but I need to concentrate much when driving in the city.  Highway driving is easier except at night.  Getting tired is the danger.  Commuting to work in heavy traffic almost was the end of me.  I prefer public transit and a book or mp3 player to that stress.   Public transit is still stressful (close proximity to people, smells, noises, standing etc) but less stressful sometimes than driving.

I've always maintained that one of the most important skills with driving is.....
(Highlight):

Lauren seems to be doing well.  The first few times I took her to the local cemetary, which, while it sounds creepy, was really quite nice.  We have huge grounds, since Canberra is a small-ish city, and it's built on a block of bush land with kangaroos grazing the lawns.  The speed limit there is 20 kilometres an hour, so she could drive as slow as was comfortable, and the roads are sealed and hardly anybody about.  Then, the scenery is nice, it's spring here in Australia, and although we're in drought, the bottlebrushes are coming into flower and the Canberra bluebells are everywhere.

We've been out onto the old Federal Highway once and plan to go out there again this weekend.  Because there's a lot of bends in the road, the speed limit is variable, but never more than 80kph.  Lauren stuck to the posted limits and did well, although she did have a slight tendency to hug the left-hand shoulder.  (For those of you who drive on the right-hand side, left is how we drive here!)  We saw, I think, three cars while we were out there, all farm vehicles who overtook her, and since she had her "L" plates on, they seemed ready to give her the benefit of her slower speed.  So all round it was a good result.

Alison

Even when I have never been to California nor anywhere near there, that sounds just like California!

Because the emissions laws are the toughest and the fire laws are probably the toughest, too!

Because California rarely gets showers! For anyone that wants to live in California, they better think again! Because of the emissions fees and getting shot down by Smokey the Bear! LOL!

On the other hand Califronia has quite a bit going for it. It's not like we're all living in terrible fear of emissions fees.

Also, we do get rain here...it's just that it rains mostly in the mountains and the northern part, whichs is mostly agricultural. So the water has to be pumped across the entire state, and it's entirely possible to have a drought in LA and a flood in Sacramento.