How to Overcome Driving Anxiety with 7 Expert Tips

Experiencing fear or anxiety while driving is more common than you might think. Many people avoid certain driving situations or stop driving altogether due to these feelings. In a world where driving is often essential for transportation and work, overcoming this anxiety can significantly improve your personal and professional life.

The good news is that you’re not alone, and there are effective strategies to help you conquer your driving fears. In this article, we’ll explore seven expert tips to help you reduce your anxiety and become a more confident driver.

How to Overcome Anxiety While Driving

1. Enroll in Specialized Driving Anxiety Courses

One effective way to tackle driving anxiety is to enroll in specialized courses that focus specifically on overcoming this fear. Many of these courses are available online, offering flexibility and convenience. For example, the Zutobi Behind-the-Wheel (BTW) online course features:

• Online driving lessons with professional instructors: Learn from experts who understand driving anxiety and can provide personalized guidance.
• Step-by-step driving guides: Break down complex driving tasks into manageable steps to build your confidence gradually.
• Parent training guides to help with driving lessons at home: If you’re a young driver, these guides can help your parents support you effectively.
• Driving simulations: Practice driving scenarios in a risk-free, virtual environment to get comfortable before hitting the road.

These courses aim to help you get comfortable in a risk-free setting, allowing you to practice and learn without the pressures of real-world traffic. The benefits include increased confidence, improved driving skills, and a structured approach to facing and overcoming your fears.

2. Get help from a driving instructor

Hiring a driving instructor can help you get used to driving in difficult situations while also improving your driving skills. By learning about safe driving skills from a professional driving instructor, you will know for a fact you are learning the most up-to-date driving skills. With time, you’ll become more confident in traffic, get used to driving in traffic, and won’t have to be fearful of getting into the car.

Even if you think you are a good driver, taking lessons with a driving instructor will still help immensely. This is especially important if you haven’t been behind the wheel for some time.

3. Learn the rules of the road

In addition to taking lessons with a driving instructor, you want to know the rules of the road by heart. If you know exactly what to do in each situation, and how others will act, you will feel much more comfortable in traffic. A common mistake new drivers make is that they study just enough to pass their permit test, but not enough to actually understand all driving rules and safe driving skills you need to stay safe in the long run.

By learning safe driving skills you will reduce the risk of an accident drastically, which should reduce your driving anxiety over time. For example; safe driving skills help you maintain a proper following distance to vehicles in front which means you won’t need to brake or change lanes as much. Another safe driving example would be to plan your routes so you won’t need to change lanes as much.

4. Practice, practice, practice!

It may sound harsh to suggest that people who experience anxiety while driving should sit behind the wheel more, but the more you practice, the better a driver you will become and the less stressful driving will feel. Driving anxiety often relates to feeling inadequate in a car. You should see that your driving anxiety lessens the more you get used to handling your car in traffic and the more comfortable you feel as a driver.

We suggest that you begin by practicing on quiet streets with little traffic and gradually move to more busy roads. That way, you’ll have a smooth transition into the type of busy roads that are usually the hardest for persons with driving anxiety or fear of driving in general. Focus on feeling relaxed and calm and free.

5. Meditation

For some, finding a way to relax and simply let go of your worries can do wonders. Mediation is a time when you can fully relax and clear your head. A few minutes at home may be all it takes to unwind. Best of all? You can find mediation videos on the internet so you don’t even have to leave your home.

6. Therapy

If your fear of driving is based on a real-life event like being involved in an accident or seeing someone else hurt from an accident, perhaps therapy is the key. Finding the root of the problem can help you overcome your driving anxiety the fastest.

Many people with driving anxiety hold it inside themselves rather than talk about it. Therapy will help you face your fear and discuss it with someone who can help you unravel what exactly it is you are scared of. In many cases, therapy leads to an understanding that there is nothing to be afraid of by dismantling the anxiety or fear one step at a time.

7. Do It Your Way

If something works for you, or you need time, do it your way. It’s a process of eliminating what doesn’t work and finding the stuff that does work. We’ve outlined some tips to help you out, but the truth is that some people need to go through a different process. Finding what works for you may take time, but you’ll get there as long as you keep at it.

What Makes Driving Anxiety Dangerous?

While it is convenient to think that driving anxiety only affects the person who has it, it can in fact affect others too.

Drivers suffering from driving anxiety often slow down in traffic to stay safe – but evidence shows that driving anxiety makes most people a worse and more dangerous driver.

Why is that? Well, drivers facing anxiety are scared to make the correct choices in traffic and may cause unsafe situations simply by virtue of driving too slowly or defensively. For example, driving too slowly can be just as dangerous as speeding.

That’s it!

We hope this guide has helped you understand the potential ways you can tackle your driving anxiety and become a confident driver!