Driving anxiety and near crash experience

The only thing that's going to get you over this is practice. Honestly. Practice and familiarity with regular routes. Just keep driving and try not to let your anxiety dictate things like where and when you drive. I have a friend who hardly ever goes on motoways after years of driving which means she has to take ridiculous diversions to get where she wants sometimes. I was just like you at one point and after driving in and out of a major city for three months, my confidence increased a lot. There are a lot of idiots on the roads and you must do your best to ignore them. Don't overthink near misses either - just be thankful that nothing serious happened - I have a mantra that I repeat in those situations which is that "nearly's don't count" but where they really spook you, treat them as a learning experience. I still find driving through an unfamiliar city centre quite difficult but sometimes you can prepare by going on Google maps and driving your route to familiarise yourself. Just stick at it and you'll be fine!

I get so anxious when driving and I struggle to concentrate sometimes. I used to drive to work and I worked in the city centre (15 minutes away), but besides this I’ve always been anxious to drive far. I’ve been on the motorway a few times but I get so anxious following a satnav and being alone. I always worry about big roundabouts and lane discipline, but I really want to improve on this because I want to be able to drive anywhere I want.

Sometimes I make silly mistakes, for instance today I was driving back from somewhere and emerging out of a junction to turn right. The road was so busy as it was rush hour, i emerged out slowly as cars kept coming and coming and no one seemed to give way. I understand they had right of way but a car came right behind me and I got so nervous as I’d been there for a couple of minutes. On my left no cars were coming and on my right a car in the distance. I emerged out but the car sped up and as I turned I went right past the car, it was very close! They of course horned for 3 seconds and I was in so much shock. I didn’t hit the car but I made them break. I’m now overthinking badly they might report it but I looked behind and I don’t think they had time to get my reg down as the road was really busy. But I feel soo guilty and I feel like I always make silly mistakes when driving. It’s always something that ends up making my anxiety get worse.

Does anyone have any tips on improving focus when driving or just driving anxiety in general. I really want to be confident enough to drive in lanes and go places without overthinking. Sometimes I feel like it’s my car, I drive a manual currently and I often want an auto as I know it would be easier to speed up and emerge on business roundabouts for instance. But I worry so much and sometimes I feel like there’s so much going on with roundabouts, signs, round closures and I just end up panicking.

I suffer from driving anxiety too. The way I deal with it is to do a 'dry run' test drive whenever I go anywhere new and unfamiliar. If possible, someone else drives whilst I write all directions down in a way that suits me. I also use Google maps for directions. I allow plenty of time and I don't mind parking 10 or 20 minutes away and walking the rest if it eases my anxiety.

I also go on Google maps and look at the lanes on a roundabout via satellite so I know the lanes before I go. Not ideal but I don't mind taking a longer, slightly more round the houses route if easier. Also helps to regularly reread the highway code etc.

If I feel anxious, I pull up as soon as I safely can and take a break.

In some ways being someone like you, who understands how dangerous cars are, is not a bad thing.

Once you do a route regularly it will be fine.

Thanks for the advice, I’ll defo have a look on Google maps. It’s the roundabout lanes that stress me out the most. But I think I need to not panic is serious situations like when it’s rush hour or road closures. That’s usually when I mess up. I’ll start going for drives by myself a bit more to build up my confidence.

I get so anxious when driving and I struggle to concentrate sometimes. I used to drive to work and I worked in the city centre (15 minutes away), but besides this I’ve always been anxious to drive far. I’ve been on the motorway a few times but I get so anxious following a satnav and being alone. I always worry about big roundabouts and lane discipline, but I really want to improve on this because I want to be able to drive anywhere I want.
Sometimes I make silly mistakes, for instance today I was driving back from somewhere and emerging out of a junction to turn right. The road was so busy as it was rush hour, i emerged out slowly as cars kept coming and coming and no one seemed to give way. I understand they had right of way but a car came right behind me and I got so nervous as I’d been there for a couple of minutes. On my left no cars were coming and on my right a car in the distance. I emerged out but the car sped up and as I turned I went right past the car, it was very close! They of course horned for 3 seconds and I was in so much shock. I didn’t hit the car but I made them break. I’m now overthinking badly they might report it but I looked behind and I don’t think they had time to get my reg down as the road was really busy. But I feel soo guilty and I feel like I always make silly mistakes when driving. It’s always something that ends up making my anxiety get worse.
Does anyone have any tips on improving focus when driving or just driving anxiety in general. I really want to be confident enough to drive in lanes and go places without overthinking. Sometimes I feel like it’s my car, I drive a manual currently and I often want an auto as I know it would be easier to speed up and emerge on business roundabouts for instance. But I worry so much and sometimes I feel like there’s so much going on with roundabouts, signs, round closures and I just end up panicking.