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.