Aspies For Freedom

Wish me luck Gents ;] (my dad's got AS and he's the most competant Driver i've ever experienced, even if he does have a good old swear now and then. lol)

I haven't started yet but I know a guy.

I want me one of thems Renault 4's, although they are fairly rare in this country nowerdays, much more in France.

Ok, just tell us when and where and we'll know to stay indoors for safety's sake!

Cool car!

All I can say is, BLIND SPOT!  Watch the BLIND SPOT!  And do not turn from the middle lane.....LOL

But that was just me.  I got all nervous and feeling pressured and nearly killed a few people!

Meh my aunt got the wind put up her when someone reversed out infront of her suddenly, she won't drive out of town now..and she must only drive 20 miles per hour.

Bah happens to my dad all the time, he just swears and carrys on.

My embarrassing driving story, as admitted to for the first time ever, just for the purposes of giving you all a good laugh:

At one stage I was living in a house that had the most steep driveway you can imagine - the car wouldn't even get up it unless you got some speed up before you made the attempt.  But even so, the driveway was a more gentle slope than the ground on either side of it, which was basically an eight-foot sheer rocky drop on either side.  It was a dumb place for a driveway... in fact, it was a dumb place for a house.  Now, on top of all this, the driveway was curved.

I, in my infinite 20 year old wisdom, decided to reverse down it.  In the dark.  

The car ended up sitting on its rear bumper, pointing straight upwards.  It took TWO flatbed towtrucks to get it out - each one got its tray under one side of the bumper, and the levered it upwards inch by inch until it was high enough off the ground to get a truck in underneath it.  The few bits underneath that weren't ripped to bits on the rocks on the way down were finished off on the way back up.

It was my first car, was older than me and was worth about $500 tops.  For some reason, I got it fixed up rather than writing it off and we got into many more misadventures before one day I took it to get serviced, they put it up on the hoist, and the undercarriage literally fell out of it.

Actually, a car should not have a blind spot.  I teach students this.  The issue is in how the mirrors are adjusted.  The procedure is thus:

1. With the car parked, adjust the rear view mirror so you see as much as possible, equally, out the back window.

2. Take note of an object you can clearly see on the left most edge of your mirror. In this example, lets say it is a tree trunk.  You might have to  move the car or have someone stand behind it if there is nothing obvious to use.

3. Now adjust the driver side mirror. Adjust it so you can clearly see the tree trunk on its right most edge but do not tilt it past that point. The idea is not to give yourself a lot of duplicate information that you already get from the rearview mirror. Just enough of a reference to know nothing has been missed.  You will then see new information more with the remaining part of the mirror. You don't need to see the side of your car door :-)

4. Take note of an object you can clearly see on the right most edge of your rear view mirror.

5. Adjust the passenger side mirror so you can clearly see that marker on its left edge but do not tilt it toward the car past that point.  

Viola.  No blind spot and your mirrors give maximum information.  When a passing car moves out of your side mirror, it will be in the edge of your eye out the side window.

Exciting news, learning to drive is great.  It sounds like you have a very mature attitude in that you know you don't already know how to drive.  Some teens, like my brother, (a non aspie) thought they already "knew it all"  :O)     My aspie son John (11) is an excellent driver - cautious - when driving go-carts.... I have high hopes that he will be "learning" in about 6 years...

Hehe, maybe you can help teach your son yourself, I imagine he's a quick learner considering the fact he's good with a kart, which is in some ways actually more dangerous than the real thing..I should know.

Well, I'm no dummy :O) Go-carts at NAscar park in Myrtle beach, (once a year) is a rather controlled environment - and when I say cautious, I mean he goes pretty slow... his youngest sibling, Grace is lapping him :O) but John loves cars, (classics - they have "style") so at least he will respect their size and that they can be dangerous, he is not a risk taker.  I doooo look forward to it though. So pschyed for those about to get wheels... humans on wheels, what will they come up with next?!

Thanks Silky.  I am still not good at driving, I get too used to public transportation.

great news! I actually paid 800 usd towards my driving lessons/test etc in 2006 and only managed to attend 3lessons, I gave up after having severe panic attacks and I've never been back since.

Take heart!

I made a few mistakes years ago, caused minor vehicular damage, more to my car (I am glad I have comprehensive) but I do learn from my mistakes.   Especially when I am travelling far, last time I was in WV, and I was sleepy, I turned around to go to the rest area on the other side of the interstate to take a nap.

My car insurance is falling.  It is about $421 every six months now.  There have been no incidents in 3.5 years now.

I think what Mom did, temporarily keeping me off the road to 21, was probably OK, but Dad stretched that out to 26.  He was too paranoid.

Nationwide seems to track incidents for 5 years.  One speeding ticket is 5 years 1 month old.  I've never seen a Maryland state trooper so angry in my life.  The only other stuff is making the mistake of driving perhaps slightly too fast on an unfamiliar road, and rear-ending someone at intersection, and then unexplained scratches on the rental car while my car's  light system was being fixed.  (If I remember right, my passengers thought it was a hit and run, but..... without proof I let it go)

Never4get, is that sarcasm or humor?  $800 and attended 3 lessons?  
I was so scared driving I would play a particular Christian music tape in the tape deck....

But I did learn to drive quite well, and I eventually was able to drive alone up to 330 miles (Huntington, WV from Martinsburg WV), about 6 hour trips.  Actually I made three such trips......
1.  Confirmation (retest) of my Marshall University Asperger diagnosis, 1997
2.  Job interview, West Virginia Department of Education, Charleston (60 miles east) with overnight staging area in Huntington, 1998
3.  retirement party Baptist Student Union coordinator, 1999

Meh where's the fun if you go slow ;p

Bashin into people (by accident ;p) arse mere inches from the rapidly moving tarmac..would I do it again? yeahh.

Ethel-*good laugh!*
 Yeah, dumb place for a house.. 

Silky-thanks for the mirror/blind spots tips.. Good to know.

        ~Ian -good luck!~

Of course btw I will be driving steadily in a proper car especially if I get an older car not known for it's structural integrity-just the way I like it.