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)?
When I was old enough to learn to drive, my parents paid for me to have a course of 10 driving lessons (my birthday present). This was on the understanding that I would have to foot the bill after that. At the time, I was on a Youth Training Scheme (for people below a certain age, the YTS was similar to an apprenticeship), which paid an absolute pittance. As much as I wanted to learn to drive and pass my driving test, I couldn't afford to continue with the lessons AND fund the cost of things that I did not think I could possibly live without.
I am now in my late 40s and no nearer to being able to drive. To be honest, I am not so sure that I would want to now. Compared to when I was in my late teens, the roads seem so much busier now (I live in an urban sprawl), and there are a good many road users who seem to think The Highway Code doesn't apply them.
However, the older I get, the more I find myself thinking that the ability to drive may become a necessity. My mother is in her late 60s and I increasingly find myself thinking about what will happen when she's no longer able to drive. The majority of my relatives don't live locally, and some live in areas that cannot be easily accessed by public transport. I find it hard not to think of the difficulties that would arise if there was a family emergency or occasion (wedding, funeral, etc).
Apologies! I seem to have gone off on a tangent and failed to provide a helpful response to the questions raised.
Hi, I’ve noticed a lot of the young now are learning in automatic cars. Electric cars have no gears so they don’t see the point of learning manual gears. There is basically stop / go pedals.
Thanks Roy, that's good to know.