Whether it’s fear of failing a test, apprehension about motorway driving, anxiety over returning to the roads after years out, or a genuine phobia – there’s plenty of reasons people are scared of getting behind the wheel.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Here we set out some of the most common driving fears and where possible, try to allay them with practical advice.
While it doesn’t have a specific name, the emotions tied to a fear of driving are extremely common and can manifest themselves in both mild and more severe symptoms.
For some, it can be a fear of very specific situations, such as:
But for many others, it’s a more generalised anxiety about sitting behind the wheel. Furthermore, many cases of driving phobia develop seemingly out of the blue, with no clear cause and sometimes after years of driving without fear.
There’s no catch-all answer to the question of why some people develop, or have an in-built fear of driving.
For most, a combination of apprehensions and anxieties will be at play. Some of the most common triggers include:
Performance anxiety – it’s human nature to feel the burden of responsibility, especially when safety’s at play. As well as your own wellbeing, you’re taking on the pressures of looking after any passengers in your vehicle too. Many people feel uncomfortable trusting in their own abilities behind the wheel.
Fear of travel – more of a specified phobia (‘hodophobia’ to be exact), the fear of travel includes movement through all forms of transportation and apprehension over exploring new places or routes.
Bad experience – it stands to reason that anyone who’s been involved in, or witnessed, a road accident (or near-miss) in the past could have been strongly affected by their experience. No incident is too minor to have an effect – it could simply be that driving through a bad storm, getting lost, or even having knowledge of an experience involving somebody you know could trigger an aversion to returning to the road.
Fear of authority – while we know police, fire services and ambulance teams are out there to help us, some people suffer from a more clinically-pronounced strain of nervousness around authority figures. This can easily cause a reluctance to get behind the wheel for fear of sharing the road with the authorities – or even just unfamiliar traffic situations – for fear of doing something wrong.
Claustrophobia – one of the more common and most-publicised phobias, the general fear of enclosed spaces can easily transfer to the prospect of sitting inside a car, whether as a driver or passenger.
Fear of accidents – none of us like accidents, but people who suffer from ‘dystychiphobia’ tend to actively avoid all situations which increase the risk of physical danger, such as getting inside a car.
