Accident nerves

Jay_Tee

I don’t know if anybody else has suffered this, but at the moment I just don’t feel my nerves can stand much driving.

Two weeks I was driving along a local road, the traffic in the opposite direction was stationary waiting for traffic lights and one of the stationary cars let a transit van out, however the van driver took this meaning that there was no approaching traffic and drove straight into the offside of my car badly damaging both doors and the “B” pillar. Now I coped with that quite well, the driver of the van was a pleasant guy, accepted responsibility and that incident has been sorted out with the insurance companies.

I had a courtesy car, but only drove it a little, three days ago I picked up my new car, and had been fine driving it until this morning, when I had to brake and swerve due to a Jaguar coupe deciding to change lane by forcing me out of the way, when I stopped at the shops I was going to my hands were shaking, I’ve got myself home, and at the moment feel that I never want to drive again (probably delayed shock from the original accident), has anybody else had this happen and how did you get yourself out of it?

stitchup

Yes this does happen its happened to me, the nerves take a while to kick in what you need to do is drive to the original accident site and go past a few times keeping yourself together to gain your confidence back it will come back and you will feel better for it.

coinxoperated

Maybe you could enquire about having some lessons again. Although none of it was your fault, sometimes it can help put your mind at ease if they just run threw the basics with you while your driving x

hazellc

I'd choose a few quiet times to go out and have a drive on the roads you use most. 8am on a Sunday or after 9pm during the week is usually really quiet, and you can get a bit of confidence in your driving and your car back. You've had a nasty experience and it shakes you up, then when other people act like wazzocks you feel like you're out of control.

I was a very anxious driver after a few nasty experiences, but I haven't pushed myself to do journeys that I wasn't comfortable with, and gradually I've got more comfortable with the things that scared me (driving at busy times, mostly).

Good luck!

verityboo

After the head on crash I had I did 2 things. Firstly, made myself drive as much as possible in the following couple of weeks. Secondly, I joined the institute of advanced motorists which is the best thing I did to boost my confidence and taught me to drive more defensively. I would definitely recommend it

TrickyWicky

I've had a couple of accidents and tons of near misses. The accidents happen, no major biggie, car has a bit of damage but I'm ok. Thats saying something when you see a landrover freelander hurtling towards the stationary small hatchback you're in!

The near misses are the scary ones - they make your heart jump into your throat. Just days ago I almost hit a kid that could have only been 8 years old. I was driving up the road, saw a young mum and her child on the pavement on the right, slowed down just in case they walked out in front of me and suddenly a this little boy on his bike rode out in front of me from behind a car - literally 8 feet in front. I was luckily doing just 20MPH and managed to stop about 2 feet away from him - any faster and he'd of been hit. It really shook me up. The kid just looked at me as he realised what he'd done and I looked at him and couldn't stamp on the brakes fast enough. Luckily he was fine but it could have been very different had I not seen the lady on the other side of the road and slowed down for her. If she'd not been there that boy could be dead today because he was lower than the back of the car he was behind and there was no way to see him. I was ok at the time but 10 mins later when I got to my partners workplace to pick them up I was a bag of nerves - shaking and all sorts.

So yes, I've been there and as said before I think the near misses are scarier than the actual accidents. I'm generally a very good driver - I stick to the rules, I always think of other peoples safety but every near miss I've had has been down to someone else being daft on the road. I won't blame the kid as his parents should have taught him not to ride out from behind a car but there are a LOT of other motorists who are plainly inconsiderate on the road and don't care for anyones safety but their own.

Jay_Tee

Thanks to you all for your thoughts and ideas, I pushed myself to go out this afternoon for a drive, and it's helped, so I think I'll make sure that I do more driving than normal but at quiet times just to get back my confidence.

The feedback is very much appreciated.

Crazy_Jamie

Jay_Tee wrote:

I’ve got myself home, and at the moment feel that I never want to drive again (probably delayed shock from the original accident), has anybody else had this happen and how did you get yourself out of it?

It won't be shock; your confidence has simply taken a bit of a hit due to being involved in one accident and having one other near miss. It's entirely normal to become nervous whilst driving after incidents like that, and you shouldn't think that there is anything wrong with it. Things will improve at least partially over time, so don't feel that you need to find an instant solution. Going out for a drive at quiet times and taking some advanced driving lessons are both good potential options for you if you want to take some slightly more proactive steps.

Horseunderwater

I was a passenger in my cousins mini in 1986 and it was a pretty bad accident. PO van 7.5 tonne or so, driving too close to orange fiesta on a greasy road with light rain after long dry spell. Fiesta signalled that it was slowing and going to turn right. We had seen it do this many times so knew what should happen, except that day the PO van driver was too close, wheels locked and he skidded sideways into us. My cousin had 2 choices - hit him or oncoming on other side. She chose the van. We survived. Whiplash and cuts and bruises. But I still do not like being a passenger even now. I much prefer to drive - in fact I drive buses for a living these days! Cannot get more competant than that really. If the road where you had the problem is a regular road that you use, it might just be worth going along it at a quieter time and noting down all potential problem areas like junctions and keep clear boxes or yellow cross hatch boxes, traffic lights roundabouts, in fact anything that makes you a bit concerned. Once you know where they all are, then drive down it at varying times, both busy and moderately quite, getting used to the road once more. Keep plenty of distance from one in front. Keep to speed limit and if you are not happy at that, just slow down. Ignore the impatient driver behind - they are the ones with the problems, not you. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I now have an extremely good 6th sense, so can usually tell when something is developing, so I take what I consider appropriate action to avoid the problem.

cyclonebri1

After years of troble free driving I had two clashes in the space of a week.
Neither was my fault and both were resolved through insurance and a bit of paintwork.

But it left me with a feeling that every other motorist was out to get me and that the next coming together could be around the next bend, even though both the incidents I mentioned were in town traffic.

It wore off after a month or 2, and in the 20 years since only 1 other accident, again thankfully not at fault;)

Jay_Tee

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

But it left me with a feeling that every other motorist was out to get me and that the next coming together could be around the next bend, even though both the incidents I mentioned were in town traffic.

That's a very good description of how I feel