A week ago (25 August) I drove into Shepherdstown (it was move in day at the dorms at Shepherd University, with cops directing traffic) and my best friend, his wife and I went down to Hub City Sports in Hagerstown to pick up a Trek 7200 road-mountain bike (a "hybrid").

Smart man.  He chose a bike based on my comfort (so I wouldn't give up riding) plus dis-assembly (seat, and front and rear wheels).  Why is dis-assembly important?
a.  easier to transport bike in pieces (remove front wheel, no need to use an external bike carrier, such as a strap on the trunk model)
b.  easier to carry indoors if your flat does not have an elevator.  The management put in bike racks but only one guy uses them, and even he removed his detachable seat.

I tried riding to the office.  So far so good. Perhaps I can take a slightly longer route to church to get around the hills.

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

Biking seems a win win all around
1.  I get thinner
2.  I don't pay for gas so much, wear out tires so much, repair (I drive so little I still have to oil change every three months)
3.  Less excuse to be in Iraq, Middle East
4.  Less CO2 in atmosphere

Your illustrated argument about SUVs sounds as reasonable as folks around D.C. having adjustible rate mortgages in suburbs hours away to raise the kids in and then the daddy (or mommy) grumbles about the commute, the increasing mortgage bill, and the price of gas.  Hello??

I'm glad I figured out living close to the office five years ago (after three years on the opposite end of the city).  First, though, when I had the job, it was unavoidable driving from Mom's in West Virginia 90 miles to the office 3x a week (I got to work at home 2x a week), but fortunately gas was under a buck a gallon in 1999.

Too bad we can't party like its 1999 again huh?

When I am driving I always expect the worst case scenario from everybody else on the roads, which means I never follow too closely and always make sure someone is going to stop, turn off etc. Basically think of everybody else on the roads as being idiots and prepare for them to do stupid things on the roads. It seems to work for me.

It took me ages to learn to drive actually. There are a lot of things to think about at once when you're learning. I know when I got to a certain stage in my driving, I did the illegal thing and drove around the backstreets of where I lived in an old rusty car by myself. It was the only way I got comfortable enough to do my test.

To the OP, I think most parents really freak out when trying to teach a child to drive. (child meant in the sense of their offspring rather than denoting age) For anyone, it takes some experience to know to look for cars speeding through stop signs, and other things like when your lane on the freeway turns into an exit lane. It is a lot to remember. However, I think your parents reactions to teaching you to drive were more 'natural' than having anything to do with AS.

I dont drive a car for the simple reason that im afraid I would end up in a place very faare away.

I am sort of sad I have a car.  I know I'd be thinner without one.  The money for insurance and maintenance!  Lesser costs like Alexandria car tax and Virginia vehicle registration.  So far no abusive driver fees and I intend to keep it that way.

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.

Yep, thats me I'm affraid...

Left?...right?...straight?--where's the map? Dam it! I know the traffic lights have changed...Stop beeping me!

I never know which way I'm turning--how can I signal to let other people know? lol

hihi

I got my license when I was 23 (btw, I am 23). I got it last Friday. Good, because here in Texoma you can't do anything without a license. The closest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away or so. Oh, and today I found my motorcycle course completion card (which I completed Oct 15th 2006), so I can hand that in tomorrow at DPS, take the written test and get my motorcycle license as well.

I got my license when I was 23 (btw, I am 23). I got it last Friday. Good, because here in Texoma you can't do anything without a license. The closest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away or so. Oh, and today I found my motorcycle course completion card (which I completed Oct 15th 2006), so I can hand that in tomorrow at DPS, take the written test and get my motorcycle license as well.

Congrats on getting your license!  (I got mine when I was 30)

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

Hell, I'll park as quickly and easily as I can and walk on in.

Yes! That's exactly how Erich sees it. The randomness of most drivers is just so hard to instantaneously accomodate.

His worksite and mine are 50 miles apart, but rather than living half-way between, we live close to Erich's site and I take the long commute. I just have so much anxiety about his having to deal with all the crazy San Francisco Bay Area traffic -- I'd rather have an hour+ drive than ever have anything happen to him