Do you drive?

I learnt to drive over 40 years ago because we were living out in the country with no shops and one bus a week on market day. I avoid night driving now if I can because of the headlights but that's about the only change I've made. I've just renewed my licence again. Whether I will renew it again when I'm 79 remains to be seen.

Yes, switch between manual and automatic and ride an electric bike.

I never learned to drive. I did have a series of lessons once when I was in my late 20s. I had such bad panic attacks I had to give them up. I think i would just freeze in an emergency. The problem is that driving requires you to do a number of things at once and Ive never been very good at that.

However Ive always lived in a big city with good public transport links so I made do with buses and taxis. I used to use the train a lot for intercity travel. Nowadays I dont like to go out much so its a taxi or a relative door to door.

The day I passed my test (I was 20) was one of the best days of my life. I love driving and do most of our driving if OH and I are together. Also, I don’t really like being driven.

No never wanted to learn, even at 18 when my father was keen for me to learn. I know most women my age (70) drive. Possibly no confidence in traffic, I realise it would give me more flexibility to get out and about. At the moment DH does all the driving so doesn’t really matter, would have to rely on public transport otherwise.

I fell in love with driving on my first lesson and have driven ever since.
Driving fast playing loud music was one of my greatest pleasures, but I'm more careful these days as I don't want to lose my licence.

Yes I drive and am a confident daytime driver i passed my test at 24 and am now 68. I live in Surrey but drove up to Wales this week to see a friend I’m fine with motorways. However I don’t like night driving very much nowadays and only so short journeys when absolutely necessary.

I drive and did so for a living for 20 yrs. I enjoy it but it’s becoming more of a chore now traffic is so heavy most of the time. I take myself off for a drive in the early morning sometimes so I can enjoy the drive without stop start traffic.

I hate driving a car and haven’t driven since just after I passed my test almost 30 years ago. I had a partner who drove for perhaps 7 of those years.

The occasional inconvenience is nothing to the cost and inconvenience of running a car in the city.

I hope I never have to stop driving. I really enjoy it. We’ve lived in cities and in rural areas and it’s never been a disadvantage being able to drive.

My brother doesn’t drive and to my mind he lives a very small, closed-in life. He hasn’t seen our mother for many years because it’s too difficult by public transport. He says. ?

I learned to drive in 1971 and passed my test just before my 18 th birthday.
Still driving now although I have never really enjoyed it. It is my freedom and independence.
I’m quite happy to be a passenger and never drive if DH is in the car. ( long story).
My mum never learned to drive.

Yes I do. We still have a car each.
I though tend to stick to routes I am familiar with so when we go any distance, for instance down to Devon or Cornwall on holiday, my husband always drives.

I’m not a fan of public transport.
Nothing beats the freedom and convenience of being able to go where we like when we like rather than having to rely on bus and train timetables.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed a reduction in the number of cars on the roads recently?
I thought that with the increase in petrol prices, that there would be noticeably fewer cars around but that certainly hasn’t been the case around here (Home Counties).

I don’t actually like driving but I drive because I have to. I tend to avoid city driving because they have a few weird rules here which I can’t remember about which lanes to use ( most visitors get into trouble with them,too). I haven’t had any accidents and tend to be a cautious driver because I have a lack of trust of other drivers. Having said that I don’t mind country driving and will drive 100s of kms out of the towns with music playing.

I have driven since about twenty it's independence which I appreciate. I don't drive on motorways anymore too many drivers speed and it puts me off. I am not a good passenger though I admit that.
I did a car mechanics course at college when I passed my test. I knew my way around an typical engine but now they are all computerised. That's a different story but my husband has a classic car it's engine is still familiar. I expect to drive until I feel incapable to do so.

For those of you who have difficulty with night lights, I recommend anti glare specs. I bought a three style package from Amazon for around £12. Life changing!

I have been driving since I was 17 living where we do with limited public transport it's very handy.
I don't do the long drives as my husband does not travel well as a passenger and in all honesty I am not so confident in his car as mine it's much bigger. I suppose I should drive his more to gain more confidence but for the trips I do alone my car is just so much easier to park even though I don't have all the fancy cameras on his does.

I learned to drive forty years ago, but the last five years I stopped because DH bought bigger cars which I didn’t feel happy in and he was always more than happy to drive. When he became ill last year, I had to step up to the plate, get back in the driving seat and brave the city traffic to get him to various hospitals. Now, sadly, there is only me and I’m glad I have the car to fall back on, even though I pick my driving battles carefully. I’ve always had a motorway phobia and I don’t think, at my age, I will ever get over that now.

I’ve been driving since I was 17 - over 56 years. I’d be completely lost if I didn’t/couldn’t drive particularly as I live in the sticks with no public transport. I had a friend, a farmer’s wife, who only drove locally, probably about a circumference of 15 miles from the farm and never in a town . I worry about the day arriving when I can’t drive any more. Independence is a great thing. My Aunt reluctantly gave up her car keys at 94 by choice and felt she was missing a limb. She hated relying on others. I’ll be the same

I passed my test at 20 and have been driving ever since and I enjoy it. Living in a village it is impossible to get anywhere without a car.
Several women I know do drive but won't because it is so much easier to have their husbands chauffeur them around, failing that their friends. One friend used to be responsible for ferrying six friends around, not all at the same time, but she was never able to go out for a meal and have a drink because she was always driving.

I drive, and the only women I know who don't are those who've had to give up through infirmity.

I prefer motorways to scenic routes, judging that if I'm not driving fast enough for other users, they can just pass me. (I don't drive too slowly, but I do sometimes keep in the inside lane at around 60 every so often).

I like scenic routes when someone else is driving.

I drive and enjoy it. I would much rather be the driver than a passenger. DH and I split long journeys but I do the majority.

I have a friend who drives but her DH doesn't and has never taken lessons. I think that is quite unusual.

I have driven for about 50 years. I love it.

My parents both drove as did DH's and we made sure all our children could drive - DD1 took 7 tries!

I understand our eyes alter as we age which is why driving at night becomes difficult.

All my female friends drive, except one. In the forty years I have known her, she has shown no inclination to drive, despite at one point having three children under five and nursery runs to do.
She is never short of lifts, family and friends accommodate her, so no need to learn now.
Her husband has spells of incapacitating back problems and I often wonder if it has ever occurred to her, the consequences of not being able to drive him to hospital visits.

I took my test at 18 - still driving. I enjoy driving less these days, the roads are so busy.
I couldn’t have worked without a car. The current round of hospital appointments would be impossible without a car.

I have been driving since I was 17, have had my own car since 18 (not the same one obviously ?) Have driven in Europe, Australia and USA.

I cannot imagine not driving or sharing one car with DH.