# Anxiety Disorders > Specific Phobias >  >  Afraid to drive

## Juno

I'm afraid to drive and when there is snow I'm terrified. A lot of the time I have my husband drive me to and from work. But he can't all the time and on snowy days i literally sit at work and worry about my drive home which causes me not being able to give my job my full attention. Anyone feel similarly? Any one have any ideas on how to cope with this better?

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## merc

The only thing I can say is just keep on driving. Practice, practice and more practice. Also take your time and don't worry about the ignorant fools in their great big four wheel drive vehicles they can wait and if they want to pass you; they will. Certain cars handle better in snow get one of those. I absolutely can't stand my Toyota corolla in the snow. If it's really bad out, I call  off and luckily where I work is very accommodating. I also lived in western Pa where it had a lot of lake effect snow so I got used to driving in an inch or two daily.

I used to hate driving and it took me forever to work up enough courage to do it. I still occasionally get antsy. I refuse to drive in Philadelphia and instead of attending CHOP's spin bifida clinic with my daughter I go to Hershey Medical Center children's in Hershey. Maybe one day I will try to drive in the many lanes traffic on the Schukyll Expressway. Sometimes it's very slow go, but you have to watch out for lane changes and sudden unexplained stops during rush hour.

I live in a rural area and the biggest threat is deer. I hit one this winter and seriously damaged my wheels wells. When I first started driving I would go to easy places to get in and out of. Like the mall with only a few stores. I generally still do not like in town traffic and will use map quest to find out exactly where I'm going before I start out. If no computer access most phone books have street maps of the city area they cover. I'm old I used to use them.  Now that my parents are older, my Mom makes my Dad take her shopping to these locations. She never learned to drive, I suspect anxiety placed a roll and I do not want to let anxiety win like that.

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## spykerom

It is normal to have a fear of driving in a difficult situation, as said just keep on practicing.I once when i was a new driver and that time on some particular ways people often prefer to give wheels to other person instead of giving a try.

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## Brandihere

I can't drive at all, I get scared. I've had two close friends die in car accidents and I think that might be one reason why I'm scared but I'm not sure about other reasons. I didn't get my license until I was 18 and I had the choice to get it at 16. Just driving in general makes me really upset. Driving in snow would probably make my fear ten times worse  ::(:  I used to get made fun of really bad by friends and family because I never wanted to drive anywhere.

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## Otherside

I got a ban from driving for mental health reasons. Pissed at the time, ended up selling my car, but it was probably for the best. I got given a bus pass though.

Haven't gotten back into it though. It's not a need-to-do, but it would make a lot of things easier.

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## Skippy

I think, like everything anxiety related its the fear itself that's so much more than what causes it. Gotta think stuff like "I can do this! Everyone else does!" and they do. everyone drives in winter. Yeah, winter driving sucks bigtime. It can be dangerous. I've wiped out on ice before once. [BEEP] happens, just gotta be prepared and careful, practice safe driving habits, and most of all don't let fear rule you or you'll surely set yerself up for your fears becoming reality.

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## peace love joy

> I think, like everything anxiety related its the fear itself that's so much more than what causes it. Gotta think stuff like "I can do this! Everyone else does!" and they do. everyone drives in winter. Yeah, winter driving sucks bigtime. It can be dangerous. I've wiped out on ice before once. [BEEP] happens, just gotta be prepared and careful, practice safe driving habits, and most of all don't let fear rule you or you'll surely set yerself up for your fears becoming reality.



but is the fear and shakeyness worth risking other peoples lives? how can u becareful if your anxiety is preventing you from focusing on the road?

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## Skippy

> but is the fear and shakeyness worth risking other peoples lives? how can u becareful if your anxiety is preventing you from focusing on the road?



Yeah I  guess that can be true but its just that, overthinking and overfearing things making stuff more a problem than it is, and make things more dangerous on the roads.  Like everything else anxiety the fear is the problem. its always the thing interfering with life. 
Me personally, I fear very little. I even recently been in a severe car accident they say it was a miracle I survived. But even still, I'd get in a car and drive tomorrow. I was just unlucky, and it happens. Least I know now its much much less likely to happen again; theres so many people that go thru their whole lives never seeing such a thing. 
If one is always fearing what COULD happen, they'll live their whole lives limited by those fears.

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