Hi everyone, I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who would be able to help me.

I'm currently writing an article about driving phobias as my final print project at university, and am wondering if there's anyone who feels afraid or anxious about driving in some way?

As a driver in Portugal I know how awful it can be (!), but I'm looking for a more 'irrational' fear that cannot be easily explained.

If somebody can help I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks everyone,
Tina

Hi Tina

Not sure if I can help as I don't drive now. But I was always quite a nervous driver specially here in Lincs (H always says he prefers driving in Portugal to here ) and fearful that I would harm another road user.
But Im not sure whether you'd call my fear 'irrational'?
My Father was killed in a terrible road smash when I was 9. Till then I had often gone out with him in his lorry (during school hols) ; even at that tender age he started to show me the ropes on 'how to drive' !
After he died, I would hear people saying (in my hearing) to my Mum, 'its a good job Ellie wasn't with him or you would have lost them both'...

That stayed with me through my life and I went through a very strange experience when I became Dad's age at time of accident(he was just 47)..I was convinced I would die in the same way, in a road smash.
So I always had that fear within me when driving and I still do to a certain extent, when Im out with H or son...even as a passenger Im fearful,
Maybe it is irrational?
Im not sure this is any help to you Tina

My wife is a very assurred and confident person, yet she is a terribly nervous passenger in a car, and a terrible backseat driver.

She puts it down to my crap driving, (fair point!), and our sons, and our daughters, and.....

I put it down to her needing control.

(I knew 3 years studying psychology would do me some good one day!)

My fears when driving in Portugal? Meeting Sharen and Michael (with satnav) coming the other way

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=X55vH9JWkUA

This is my biggest fear when driving in Portugal or anywhere come to that. Doesn't matter how well you drive if you're unlucky enough to meet a lunatic driver.

laserblazer wrote:My fears when driving in Portugal? Meeting Sharen and Michael (with satnav) coming the other way

Surely Michael and Sharen behind you going the same way is more fearful?

Ellie that is a terrible way to lose a loved one, and I certainly wouldn't call that fear irrational. What an awful trigger... Did you stop driving because of this or were there other circumstances?

Prefers driving in Portugal? Madness! I remember a friend's grandfather who never indicated because 'Everybody knew where he lived". I suppose that could apply to any small village local.

My mother is a terrible back seat driver. She's a terrible driver come to think of it! (And i'm sure I'll get a response to that soonish!)

Yes, it was terrible Tina and left a huge hole in our family which was never filled..a lovely popular man and wonderful Dad. Mum told me that he'd been driving over 30 years and had never had an accident ( a man was prosecuted for causing the accident)

I think my stopping driving gradually came about because of my eye op.As you know you need good vision to drive.I lost almost all the sight in my left eye and although it was partially restored, I still can't see well and find it difficult to judge distances. This knocked my confidence very badly.

Hub is an excellent driver (he learnt to drive on a fire engine ) and has driven most vehicles from Rolls Royce to large articulated lorries. Our 3 kids are good drivers too, although my daughter, who lives in London finds it frustrating trying to get anywhere fast there

When we lived in Algarve, I did some driving there(though not much) and I remember driving our small truck into the orange groves near the workshops and our youngest carpenter, Calado, dropped down on his knees into a praying position, when he saw me coming!

Hub always said, to drive safely in Algarve, you have to get into the mindset of the locals...sort of be one step ahead of their thinking? It seemed to work..Im not saying we didn't have some 'hair-raising' experiences, cos we did !...but in all our time there we never had any accidents...
except for one near miss.
We were on our back from a job in Silves(in our small van) and as we approached the turn off to the workshops, a small Renault overtook us on the inside as we went to turn left. Hub was quick enough to brake and the fella shot off the road just missing a wall. I jumped out of the van and ran towards him, shouting at him that he could have killed us then..
out stepped this little man and started shouting back at me..I called him 'doido' and he went crazy. He bent into the car ( for a moment I thought he was getting a gun) but he drew out an umbrella and started to 'sword fence' me with it!
Then when he saw Hub approaching, he jumped back in his car and sped off, cutting everyone else up on the road

I was fearful on a trip back to Faro (for my lost luggage), as the taxi driver got me there in half an hour! but then I realised he knew what he was doing and then I relaxed(a little bit)

Hows your research going?