Car Travel Anxiety

Are they a good driver?
Are they a better driver than you?

If it’s any consolation I think many of us prefer being the driver to the passenger.

When my car was off the road, kind friends picked me up to go for coffee, but I was shocked at the standard of driving and even basic lack of the Highway Code shown by a couple of them - I wouldn’t have liked a long drive with them. I was grateful of course, but even more so, to get my car back . I’m fine being a passenger with my BF and both DDs.

Do you actually have to go with other people (other than DH) so maybe turn down the invitations? However, in your position I wouldn’t let it take over - maybe a mild medication could help, like those given out to nervous fliers or dentist phonics. Easy to say, but don’t let it get the better of you.

phonics??? Should be phobics of course!

I spent a weekend travelling with a friend who did the driving. I was so anxious I couldn't enjoy myself. Even crossing the road on foot worried me, as I thought she was taking unnecessary risks.
It turned out that I was suffering from an overactive thyroid which heightened the anxiety. After medication I improved although I am still inwardly critical of others' driving.

For a non driver like me you will bite someone’s hand off for a lift
Do you all have the same anxiety if you are in a bus, train or taxi ?

I can't help because I'm a nervous wreck as a passenger with husband. I don't trust his reflexes now that he's in his 70s!! I'm fine with my son or daughter or friends.

I was a poor passenger when my husband drove. He was a good driver but braked too late, to my way of thinking.
Martin Lewis once said that every time you use the accelerator or the brake uses more fuel, so it pays to drive more steadily. Tell that the the majority of drivers on the roads.

I am a terrible passenger, especially with my husband in the driver's seat .. so bad I was physically flinching, and foot trying to brake.
I have acquired a "worry stone" .. something to fiddle with, which people find calming, and I have to say it mostly works.

Pretty scarey when dh used to drive and it wasn’t just me who noticed. And if you dared say anything you were going to cause an accident. Now I do all the driving and it’s a relief.

maybe an audiobook as way of distraction

Thank you all for your comments! Hood Good to know I’m not the only one x

When we lived in Tassie the roads were so windy I used to get carsick. Not when I was the driver, though. So I did the driving! Scary bends and big trees that looked as though they could fall - a bit like some of the places near where we live now. Maybe you should opt to be the driver ? I have a friend who loves driving ( I just regard it as a necessity, never liked it ) but she is a godawful driver who takes risks and doesn’t even know it. So I make an excuse when she offers to drive !

I’ve become a nervous passenger only recently. The only thing I can put it down to a friend had a slight stroke whilst driving and had a bad accident, same age as us I think it’s preying on my mind, I keep asking my DH if he’s ok, much to his annoyance.
I’d feel safer if my AC were driving.