kjmillig

I still own my beat up old car, and I've found that I've come to really dislike driving. Maybe it's partly due to the condition of the car, but I think a big part is also that I hate the way I feel when I drive. My blood pressure seems to go up, I begin to lose my temper, and my patience decreases noticeably. It takes real effort to try to remain calm when my wife's in the car with me.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Experiences, please.

HonestOne

I've been riding more but I still love my car. I don't usually get upset when I drive and if I do, I try to pass along some grace. No one is perfect but we can all try to be As they have said at my church before, "Fake it 'til you make it". In time, you will start to lose that anger, it may never go away but it will at least be more manageable
Join us over at Ecomodder, see if you can turn that old car in to a hypermiling machine!

kookaburra1701

I have the same experience. Driving is very frustrating for me, and I feel completely cut off from the outside world, like I'm not getting all of the info I truly need. Then there's trying find parking, etc etc.

My second job involves driving a very large van - but strangely when I'm working it's easier to just chillax. Maybe because the work itself is stressful.

chewybrian 

I don't mind driving, but I really dislike being a passenger, especially in front. I think those who drive every day lose respect for the speed and the reality outside the steel and glass.

If I drive, I take it quite easy and leave lots of room. Everyone else seems to fly up to every stop, and cut every move too close for my comfort.

cycleobsidian

I dislike driving as well. I get stressed out when I have to wait in traffic, or find a parking spot.

If I drive instead of ride to work, I miss out on the exercise, and I feel that all day.

Years ago, when I would drive everywhere, I would run errands and come home pooped.

I thought it was the errands that made me pooped. Now I do my errands by bike and I'm energized!:

Winnershcyclist

I own three decent cars all with a lot of money and 8 bikes and have the same feelings as you I hate driving because of alL the Neanderthals that drive out there My SS is the chosen mode of transport at the moment it's amazing I am in my fifty's.

wolfchild

I hate driving and I don't like to be a passenger. It just doesn't feel right sitting inside a metal box and being completely isolated from the real world around me. Driving is boring, stressfull, unhealthy. I love the feeling of unrestricted freedom that I get when riding a bike or walking.

wahoonc

I have to drive for a living, some 50-60k miles a year. I reach my limits at different points. There have been several times where I have had enough, I will stop right where I am and get a hotel room for the night. I use a variety of techniques to avoid total burn-out; take alternate routes, stop and browse thrift stores, etc. I usually carry a small folder with me, when I get where I am going I can get some riding in. My nemesis is Washington, DC. I will drive over an hour out of my way to avoid that mess. My normal travel route is pretty much from Philadelphia, PA to Jacksonville, FL along the I-95 corridor. Fortunately there are several alternate routes. My biggest frustration is the lack of caring or ability of drivers to control themselves and their vehicles.

Aaron

rockmom

I dislike driving and haven't driven in years. But even more than driving, I loathe parking. That is the major drawback to bikes for me as well. I hate having to find a place to park it. But I like the act of biking, it is worlds better than driving.

Roody

I used to enjoy driving. I always preferred the back roads, but I even enjoyed several cross-continent car trips on freeways. My favorite trip was from Michigan to the west coast, through Canada, in a VW beetle. Nowadays, I would much prefer a bus, train or plane for long distance travel.

I used to drive all over Michigan--a very large state--mostly on gravel roads with no map. I think I would still enjoy a trip like that, but not enough to buy a car.

wphamilton

I only dislike driving when there is inclement weather, making the heavy traffic hazardous and drivers losing their minds. And when I have to sit in the car for 15-20 minutes to warm up and defrost the windows. It's ironic, coworkers commenting about "brave" and "dedicated" on those days where I'm just making it easy on myself.

While driving I don't get road-rage nor even begin to feel upset at drivers any more. I think that road biking experience makes it easier to sluff it all off.

Sixty Fiver

I drive when I need to... the car is a tool.

MEversbergII

I've actually only recently started on my driving (at 25...). Only got a few hours in as a I lack people who'll help me rack up the hours required to advance to the next licensing level. That said, those few hours were OK, but once I start seeing other people on the road my enjoyment drops bit by bit. This is because I dislike being in a position where an error on my part can deprive someone of a family member. I'm the same way with firearms and other dangerous things.

M.

350htrr

Hi, my name is Les, and I love to drive... I used to drive every where in my hopped up 300HP 2L, for no reason other than to feel the rush as I got pushed back into my seat every time I took off at a stop light... Every light I used to look at the person stopped next to me if they were driving something fast to see if they wanted "to go"... I mis my cars but realize that I actually have the same feelings with my bike so all is well when I can keep up with someone in spandex and on a 10,000$ bike...

EDIT: Oh I forgot to say how bad my problem was, 314,000KM in 8 years on one car and 86,000Kms in 2 1/2 years on another car, most of them driving for fun...

Dahon.Steve

+1

If I'm a passenger, my feet are constantly hitting the the floor, pretending there's a brake! I'm a wreck when sitting in the front seat because people drive so much faster than me. You loose the skill of driving fast when you haven't owned a vehicle in over 10 years.

Whenever I get in a car, it's amazing how many chances people are taking on the highways at high speed. I can see why there are tens of thousands of accidents each year as people are driving like there's no tomorrow.

Artkansas 

Buses have suffered so much since the '70s. I spent a couple of months touring around by on Greyhound back then and loved it. Last summer I did a trip out to the coast and back and it was miserable.

Many of the cities that used to have a nice station now have a parking space at local transit center or truck stop. The restaurant has been replaced with a vending machine or a convenience store.

Now the meal breaks are just ways for the driver to stay on schedule. If the driver loses time enroute, you go without a meal stop, or grab it and eat on board.

And now the DEA and the Border Patrol pull "surprise" inspections even for buses nowhere near the border. I almost got tossed off the bus because I had gotten my tickets online and pre-printed them. So when the DEA agent demanded to see my bus ticket, he wouldn't accept that I had already given it to the bus driver.

Yes, it's nice that some of the buses now have electrical outlets and wifi. I discovered that a bus is a poor place to try to use a laptop. I guess it might work with a smartphone though.

Artkansas 

Well, there's driving and there's operating a car. I love driving, if you define driving as taking the back road from Palm Springs to Las Vegas with open, traffic-free roads and the biggest obstacles are the cows that wander onto the road. Operating a motorcar, where you form a line and move a little and stop, move a little and stop and slowly trundle down the street isn't as much fun. Actually, it's just work.

Ekdog

I've let my license expire and no longer drive. On the rare occasions that I do get into a car, as a passenger, I don't feel right about it. It makes me want to take a shower--with bleach!

https://www.eyesonnigeria.org/EON_Extractives.html

350htrr

Yea, well around here it's driving, the rush hour lasts about 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon...

2manybikes

The car is just another toy, or tool. Not much stress.

gerv 

Whether it's a tool or not, I find it stressful driving in any city.

Probably because I don't normally drive a car. But little things you can do on a bike and much better while walking -- like stopping and observing a nice building, a friendly looking cafe... -- is so much more difficult in the car. Things just speed by so fast.

ro-monster

I don't mind driving per se. Rural roads with little traffic can be fun to explore. But driving in traffic is extremely stressful for me. I'm acutely aware that my brain is just not very good at processing multiple streams of input at speed. (I suck at most video games for the same reason.) On a bike the processing can be slower, at a speed I can comfortably handle.

I often wonder whether other people are better at this kind of multitasking, or whether they are simply unaware of how badly they do it.

dynodonn 

I don't dislike driving, it's just that I would like to be able to eliminate it completely and say good bye to my car, but due to the autocentric landscape nature of my locale, total elimination is not yet feasible. In the meantime, I'll use my bike and feet as much as I can.

I-Like-To-Bike

Like or dislike, whatever floats (or sinks) your boat. One inclination or the other is nothing to brag about, or require an excuse.

B. Carfree

Based on the fact that motorists injure over two million people per year in the US, I suspect it is the latter explanation on offer that is the most accurate.