Learning To Drive: 4 Simple Ways To Overcome Your Fear Of Driving

Driving does not just come naturally to all of us. On one hand, you might be someone who feels perfectly at home doing 40–50 on a busy road with the music on.

On the other hand, you might be one of those worried drives constantly panicked and stressing about when the next potential collision will take place.

This being said, when learning to drive, most drivers do experience some level of fear and anxiety. If you can relate and have felt anxiety or fear with regard to driving in some form or the other, this article is for you!  

What Is It About?

Fear of driving can be rooted in a deeper existing fear which does not have to do with driving specifically. This could be a form of performance anxiety, an awareness of being nervous and prone to panic or dude to some childhood trauma suffered involving roads, cars or vehicles. The fact of the matter is this fear is often crippling and tends to affect our moods, behavior and driving skills on the road.

The questions, is how does one tackle it?

Explore Your Fear

What is the root cause of your fear? Where does it come from? Is it tangible or rooted in worry about hypothetical possibilities? These and others are the kinds of questions you want to ask yourself when exploring your fear.

If It Is Rooted In Trauma

In the case of past trauma, fear is a very natural response. This being said, conditions like PTSD might make it hard for you to adequately address your anxiety. In such a situation, look into seeking therapy. Another thing that could help here is reparative experience. This would mean getting used to driving without something going wrong. The best way to do this is under the guidance of an instructor in a driving license class.

Slow and Steady

If it isn’t a phobia or something rooted in trauma and more about performance anxiety, the best way to go is slow and steady.

If you’re not ready to hit the highway, don’t! If you feel you would rather drive at a very manageable speed in the slow lane, do it!

If you need to prop your seat up straight and aren’t comfortable leaning back, that’s alright! Be good to yourself and don’t do anything unless you’re completely comfortable doing it!

Find Your Feet

Though some of us might go DIY in the driving department and learn to drive from older friends, relatives or by sneaking off with dad’s old station wagon, try not to do that!

Look into driving classes near you and learn to drive with a qualified instructor! Taking defensive lessons. Doing something by the book is bound to give you the confidence boost you need to keep those knuckles from going white on the wheel!

Furthermore, lessons will equip you with just the skills, knowledge and practice to be sure of yourself and self-talk back those phobias when they hit!

Jacob’s Driving School is dedicated to providing learners in Phoenix, Arizona with top-notch instructors who ensure that those graduating are better, smarter and more confident drivers.