Suddenly worried about driving - did this happen to you?

I’m 76 and still driving. My night vision is not so good which is normal for my age so I have adjusted my driving in that I only drive if necessary on familiar preferably well lit roads. My day driving is no different to what it has always been.
After lockdown, I noticed that I needed to give myself time to begin to drive again and so was extra disciplined and careful, but nothing helps more than familiarity. I together with DH drove to Northumberland from the South Coast last summer. We get tired quicker but do extra stops etc.

Carry on, carrying on??

A refresher course sounds like a good idea, but just a note of caution. Round here there is a waiting list for 17 year olds to have driving lessons, there is a big backlog from the pandemic and driving instructors are very booked up.

Interesting idea about a driving instructor/refresher course.

mrsnonsmoker I think it is normal to lose confidence as you get older - my late husband who was an excellent driver, lost a good deal of confidence when he was around 69 - 70 years old, and we eventually realised that it was because he was subconsciously noticing that his reaction times were slowing down and he was missing cues that would have been obvious to him before, as his eyesight wasn't all it had been.

(Obviously glasses would help with the latter, but once your confidence is shaken it can become a vicious circle.)

For myself, after George died, I was petrified to get behind the wheel again as I'd been foolishly content to be a passenger for years. I had about 15 refresher lessons with a sympathetic driving instructor, and that let me get on with it, but I'll never again have the confidence I had when I was younger.

We haven’t been driving very much these last couple of years. Maybe you are just lacking confidence, a few hours with a driving instructor, could be the answer.