r/drivinganxiety

I’m in my late 20s, learning for the first time, with nobody to teach me and no access to a car. That means paying for lessons, which run $100/hr in my area, and it adds up fast when you need 20-30 hours of practice before you start feeling comfortable. Frustrating that driving wasn’t something they taught us in school.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I was in a drive thru. As the line moved forward, the car in front of me goes off to the side where the parking spots are. I pause, unsure of what’s happening and he doesn’t move. So I proceed forward but before I can place an order, the same driver is next to my car, almost on it, and is screaming at me to move - saying it’s common courtesy and respect. In shock, I pause for a bit and then am unsure if I can move back without hitting him or someone else. I think I softly said, “How am I supposed to move back,” and he continues yelling telling me to just move back. I move back, he goes forward and places his order like nothing happened.

I am very confused and still shaken up? Is this a thing - where cars may move out of the line but are still in it? How long should I wait next time? What if other cars behind me start honking? One factor in my driving anxiety is angry drivers. It’s scary.

Hi everyone, I’m a college student researching how people learn to drive and what makes it stressful.

I’m trying to understand real problems new or anxious drivers face, especially things that GPS apps don’t really help with.

If you’re open to sharing, I’d really appreciate your honest answers to a few questions:

• What was the hardest part about learning to drive?
• When do GPS apps fail or confuse you?
• What makes parking or lane changes stressful?
• Did you ever wish someone could guide you step-by-step in real time while driving?
• What mistakes do you still make sometimes?

I’m not trying to sell anything—I’m just trying to understand the real experience so I can design something useful.

Even short answers are super helpful. Thank you 🙏

Omg I feel like I climbed my Mt Everest today. 😭

I am 35 F. I grew in a very chaotic country and city where people drive horribly and I always thought if i drive I might definitely die.

My first driving experience was 10 years ago in North Carolina when I had a driving instructor who was so sweet but to take me to the test, the driving school guy came who was very rude and frustrated to wake up that early lol. with the way he treated me I couldn't don’t do anything and failed my test.

Then my Boyfriend (now husband) started teaching me. I was terribly anxious and never understood anything I am supposed to do.

we then moved to a city that’s so walkable and we didn’t own a car as well.

After moving again to a car dependent city I have finally decided I should climb this mountain now!

last year in Sep I gave my test for permit and I practiced a lottttt! I think I am a bit wiser and older so I could easily understand some things I couldnt 10 years ago.

Gave my test 2 weeks ago first and made some small mistakes that led me to not pass. But I was still happy I came this far and wasn’t scared anymore.

Today I retested and finally passed 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

if you read to this end. Also fun fact I am now in my second trimester of pregnancy 😭🙏 I can finally drive my baby as well by myself!

Whoever is anxious please know this, if I got it you got it. ❤️❤️❤️

I live in the MidWest United States. For like ever, I drove around a little Pontiac sedan that had great pick up and drove smooth. Never had any issues, usually just other people going kinda slow but I stayed patient. Well, I just got a hand me down truck from my grandfather who sadly passed away. I love the thing. It’s old but it works well, just drives over potholes kinda rough and has a wider turn. Anyways, my local town is FULL of pot holes and railroad crossings. It’s generally 30 everywhere across town but people fly here on the streets, like FLY. Sometimes almost doing 50.

Well now that I’m in this bigger older truck, I do the limit. I may go 5 over here and there, but I’m certainly not racing around. If I take the railroad crossing around here going the speed limit, it sounds rough as fuck on my truck and I’m worried doing that daily will cause a lot of problems or shock issues. So I take it slow over the tracks everytime I come up on them. The truck doesn’t have the best pick up like a smaller car either.

The issue? Literally everywhere I go now, someone is up my ass. I can’t speed around like I did in my sedan, so like I said, I usually cruise at the speed limit or around 5 over. This makes people RAGE, like BAD. Someone is up my ass, everyday, raging that I’m not racing. It’s starting to stress me out and make me angry everywhere I go. Some guy was behind me honking throwing up his hands because I slowed down for the railroad tracks today. It’s getting hard to let it go and I’ve gotten in a few road rage incidents because of it these past few months. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to drive literally anywhere anymore because it might turn into a potential fight. But I also don’t want to go 40 around the neighborhood and over these rough roads in my old truck. Any advice?

I fucking HATE driving. I got my drivers license half a year ago, big fucking hurray, but that helped NOTHING with my confidence or driving anxiety. From the start I was so overwhelmed when I had to drive, there are a million things to look out for, my driving instructor was an asshole who only made me scared and insecure to drive, I have a huge ass BMW to drive now (happy that I have it, thank you dad I love and appreciate you, yes yes privilege and all whatever), half the time my legs are shaking because of the stress and there is constantly someone yapping in my ears on what I could do better when the only thing there is to do is to DRIVE IN A FUCKING STRAIGHT LINE AT THE RIGHT SPEED. Whenever I get somewhat close to starting to enjoy it I fuck up big time somehow, go home, cry myself to sleep and want to chuck my keys out of the window.

I didn't want to have a driver's license to start off with but my parents pressured me into it and I spent a huge amount of money on it, so now I have an owerglorified card that I hate and never want to use again, but I have a car and EVERYONE keeps saying that oh you can't just not drive with that license, otherwise all that money was spent on nothing, it will get better.

SHUT UP. I DONT GIVE A FUCK IF IT WAS A WASTE OF MONEY. I DONT CARE IF IT GETS BETTER.

I hate driving, I can't stand it, it stresses me to no end,I can't focus on so many things at the same time, one tiny mistake will possibly cost someone their life, everybody is so unnecessarily aggressive and DUMB, and there is a perfectly fine public transport system, why the HELL on EARTH would I torture myself with this shit???

Anyways

I'm not sorry for the foul language, this had to come out somehow

Hi, this is honestly really embarrassing for me to post, but I don’t know who else to ask.

I’m 23 and trying to get my license in the Greenville/Winterville area. I do have my permit, and I just finished my driving lessons. I’m very close to being ready for the DMV test, but I really need another hour or two of practice to feel confident.

The problem is I genuinely do not have family or friends to practice with. I’ve been trying to do this completely on my own and I’m overwhelmed. I can pay a little, but I don’t have much money at all right now.

If anyone knows a safe, affordable option or would be willing to help me practice in a public area before my test, I’d really appreciate it. Even pointing me toward resources would help a lot. Thank you.

So,can someone plz suggest me some advice what to do when I don't know how to ride a scooty or car

From past one month I am struggling to travel cause the only bus from my village to the city got cancelled completely and for auto i have to wait for many hours...so, I have no option left even for riding a scooty I need licence it will take one month to even try to get a driving licence...

In 2022, I moved to the US, and my foreign license wasn’t transferable. I was so bummed. I had barely driven for almost a decade, and my anxiety had gotten a lot worse. Just the idea of taking a driving test again made me incredibly nervous. The road markings, intersections, and rules also felt completely different here.

I got my learner’s permit pretty soon after moving, but it still took about 3 years to finally take my practical test. I passed on the first try today!

One thing I learned from this sub was to practice short, comfortable routes, like driving to the grocery store. It took many tries (and lots of panicking), but eventually I got used to the car and the route well enough to focus more on the details instead of pure anxiety. After that, we started branching out to nearby routes and practicing around the DMV area.

My partner helped a lot, and honestly propranolol also made a huge difference for me (ask your doctor!).

I still don’t like driving, but I wanted my license in case of family emergencies or for work. I still need practice with highways and other situations, but progress is progress.
I’ll probably always have some anxiety around driving.

I definitely made mistakes and probably annoyed people on the road, but I never saw them again afterward. And if they don’t understand that not everyone wants to Fast & Furious their way through traffic, that’s a them problem :) Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Thank you to everyone here for sharing your stories. Reading them was a huge support and made me feel a lot less alone through all of this.

Okay, I’m in my late 30s and moved to the U.S. 6 years ago. I already have my driver’s license, but I still can’t drive alone confidently. I used to drive to stores and nearby places, but after moving to a new state with much busier roads, my anxiety got worse.

My husband taught me how to drive, but almost every time we practice, I end up crying. It stresses me out because he used to yell, compare me to other people, and say things like driving is “common sense” and that he learned without anyone teaching him. We already talked about it, and he has changed a bit, but I still feel tension or frustration from him whenever we practice. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just overthinking everything or if I’m honestly just a nervous wreck behind the wheel.

My son is almost 5 now, and the main reason I really want to overcome this is because I need to be able to drive him to school and do things independently.

Now he’s suggesting that I get a professional driving instructor, but part of me feels emotional about it because a few years ago he took it personally whenever I struggled learning from him, almost like I was failing him. Now when he suggests an instructor, it sometimes feels more out of frustration or spite because he still sounds angry when I get emotional and say I don’t think I’ll ever learn. Also, my husband is usually very frugal, so part of me honestly feels like he doesn’t really mean it and is only saying it because he’s frustrated with me.

At the same time, I honestly don’t know if I’m just too sensitive or if driving anxiety is really affecting me this badly. Should I just pay for a professional instructor at this point?

I just passed my road test yesterday! I'm 37 and didn't think I would ever have a driver's license. Seeing posts on here about other people getting their licenses later in life inspired me to try.

Y’all, I’ve been watching driving videos on TikTok and YouTube and honestly the comments have made me feel so much more afraid, ashamed and dumb. These are videos of driving instructors teaching students and the comments are just flooded with people saying driving isn’t hard and people like that shouldn’t be on the road, etc. It’s really discouraging me bc I am a slow learner and I have a hard time with multi tasking. Knowing everyone in society looks down on people who don’t get the hang of driving right away just really scares me bc what if my instructor is like that too?

Hello everyone,

as many people in this sub, I don't have anyone to practice with me. I got my license 10 years ago, but then moved to a big city where having a car is more of an annoyance than a perk. Now I have to drive for work, but I am struggling with driving anxiety (partially due to having lost friends in a horrible accident, so the fear of death feels very real).

I managed to feel ok while driving in the city, though that's stressful on it's own, but we have strict speed limits so it feels safe(er). However I can't find the courage to go on the highway, and I will need it for work eventually. I'm so scared of entering and leaving the highway, especially if there's a sharp curve after. How do I get over it??

So ever since all crash around 1 to 2 years ago I've always been anxious in and around cars. That crash only ended giving me and my family seat belt burn at the worse and mom's car was totaled, but it almost ended a lot worse.

Ever since then I feel so afraid whenever Im in a vehicle. Whenever my mom's driving me I flinch at every close call and movement of the car. Whenever I'm on my bus I also get anxious whenever my bus is turning and a car gets a little too close.

So for a while the idea of driving myself was an impossibility.

Unfortunately for me, there's not a lot of public transportation around where I am(at least not free)and I can't exactly get a job without one. I'm almost 16.

When I brought this up too my mom she told me "OK, how about I teach a little bit of the basics hands on and we try and drive around the block?"

I was apprehensive most definitely. I don't have a permit and I'm a stickler for laws and rules. Also I was deathly afraid of crashing and getting everyone killed. I didn't want to drive, but my mom insisted.

Long story short the gas pedal was alot more sensitive than I thought and I accelerated backwards into a ditch. We were fine the car was mostly though I did knock of the bumper. And after getting it fixed my mom reassured me it was fine no harm done and that we'd try again in a parking lot.

I'm even more worried about that. What if I hit a car and kill everyone? What if I damage someone's else's car and I go to prison or my mom has to pay for it? We're not in the best financial situation right now anyways.

How am I gonna get a job without a car? How am I gonna leave this state without a car? It's just... driving seems like such a horrifying herculean task I'm paralyzed just thinking about it. I mean- I crashed the first time in the car without having even touched the wheel!

I just need some advice. :(

After years of crippling anxiety I finally decided to say fuck it and take my test today and i passeddddd!!!

I had to drive to a city about 2 hours away for a work conference. On my way there, I had to continually exit off the interstate and stop at any gas station or rest stop I could find. I remember thinking, “How am I going to drive back?”

After the conference, I knew that I couldn’t drive home that night. I was too anxious and my stomach was in knots. All my colleagues drove back fine on their own. I pretended that I was going home too. I actually just stayed the night at a hotel nearby. I thought that, after some sleep, I could make it home in the morning.

As of right now, I’m writing this at a rest stop. I have driven a total of 30 minutes and I don’t know how I’m going to make it the rest of the way home without panicking.

My problem is driving on the interstate and country roads. I feel trapped driving on the interstate. I know that if I start to panic then I might be many miles away from a stopping point. The flat openness of the land makes me feel small. All I can see are green fields and empty plots where there once was corn. It’s like my mind is trying to psych myself out when I’m already trapped. If I was in the middle of that field then I’d collapse and be stuck. If I was on top of that radio tower then I’d throw up and fall.

And then there are second-hand anxious thoughts. If I look at the sky, then I’ll remember how high the clouds are, then I’ll panic, throw up, and die.

I took some Dramamine and a couple 10mg propranolol before getting here. I’m trying to do what I can to mitigate the symptoms. But the nausea and panic are too strong while in the moment. I’m staring at my map trying to find a route that avoids the country and interstate as long as possible. In other words, play leap frog from one small town to the next. But it’s impossible to completely avoid these roads. There’s a 15 minute stretch where I absolutely can’t get off the highway. I am stuck.

UPDATE:
I made it home! It took about 7 hours to do a trip that should have taken 2, but I’ll take it as a win. Thank you everybody for the kind words and encouragement.

I am twenty years old and have had my permit about four times now because I have been too scared to take the road test, due to lack of practice as well. I keep telling myself with each permit I get that it will be the last, and here we are on number four. That is quite embarrassing to admit. I have a fear of driving on the road. I've practiced a few times with my boyfriend at night, and I was ok for the most part, but I have a fear of driving with all the other cars around me. I guess I am scared to make someone angry, probably due to my social anxiety as well. I am planning on driving with an instructor for the first time instead of just having my boyfriend take me driving since he is also not the best teacher (sorry to my boyfriend). I just want tips on how to feel comfortable driving with other cars around. If you guys have had an instructor, did it help more versus just driving with a friend/family member/spouse? Also how long did it take you guys roughly to feel somewhat ok to take the road test? I want the independence that comes with driving, I don't want to just allow this fear to keep me from driving forever. I also don't want to have to force my boyfriend to be my designated driver. Thankfully, I work from home so it isn't too much of a burden on him right now. Any tips would be greatly appreciated 😊.

I finally did it, I went for my first solo drive today without anyone in the passenger seat to "save" me. I’ve been dreading this for months, and honestly, about five minutes in, I stalled at a green light with a line of cars behind me. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to jump out of my chest, and of course, someone started honking immediately. I felt like such a failure in that moment and almost burst into tears right there in the intersection.

But then I just took a deep breath, restarted the engine, and kept going. I eventually made it to the grocery store and back home in one piece. Even though I made a mistake and felt like a mess, I realized that the world didn't end. If you’re currently terrified of even turning the key, just know that it’s okay to be a "bad" driver while you're learning. We all start somewhere, and if I can survive a stall at a busy light, you can definitely handle your next practice session. Has anyone else had a "nightmare" first solo drive that actually turned out okay?

I want to learn how to drive soon but I am scared. I practiced one time in the cemetery with my brother and my sister and I wasn’t scared in the beginning I was actually driving around for a bit in a triangle if that makes sense. But then I tried to turn onto another street and almost drove onto the curb and both of my siblings started yelling at me and it scared me even though I didn’t hit anything or even drive on it. This was 4 years ago but after this experience I never wanted to try again, but I feel like this is a skill I need to have. How do I get over this fear I also want to know how and where to start? If I try again it won’t be with those same siblings it will piss me off.