Published on 12, July, 2020
It took me many years to learn to drive and only eventually passed my test in an automatic car in my 40s.
Today I've just come home from driving to Chichester and the other drivers drove me a bit mad.
Motorbikes cutting me up, people doing 20 miles an hour in a 60 zone, me getting out of the way of 2 ambulances and no-one letting me back out etc etc etc.
I seem to like driving less and less and am more inclined to stay at home than I ever was.
There is just so much going on around you to be aware of, especially in cities (with pedestrians too).
So, 2 questions.
1. Is my difficulty with learning in a manual car, which I took at the time to be poor co-ordination, but I wasn't aware of my autism, an autistic thing?
2. Does anyone else find driving difficult (and, again, is it an autistic thing)?
I'm in my 40s and can't drive. I tried when I was 17, had about 40 lessons but got nowhere. Never attempted it again. I used to live in a city and it was't a problem, but now I'm in the countryside. I'm adapting to a quieter, more isolated life but sometimes think it would be useful. My wife drives and is fine about me not driving. I have terrible spatial awareness, sometimes struggle to know left from right and I'm absolutely terrified of being in charge of a car. They kill thousands of people every year and I'm terrified of having an accident.