Do you drive?

I'm in mid 50s and I dont Drive.. I used to live in London and We had a family car...Once I moved to Essex I worked for a bus Co so had a free bus travel card...I would be too nervous to drive now

Just bought a new hybrid and I love it. I enjoy the independence and freedom driving allows.

I make sure I drive regularly including long journeys. Mr Apple loves to drive and I am happy for him to do so, but do plenty of driving myself to make sure I stay in practice and confident behind the wheel. I know women who have lost their nerve for anything but short local journeys and don't want to end up feeling the same. Who knows what the future holds? I want to be sure I can drive as long as I can.

Yes, I drive. I know a number of women who can, but don’t, and others who gave up in their fifties and sixties. I’ve had visits from three female social workers in the last couple of years, and they couldn’t drive, and each had to take two buses here and back, using up twice the time the visit would have taken if they could have driven. I’d have thought their time was precious.

I like the freedom of my own car. surrounded by by my own stuff - my big handbag as it were. We live in the sticks, so little alternative but the car.

I can drive, and have passed tests in both the UK and USA, although I think my US license (accurate if jarring) has lapsed.

Presently I have an injury which means I can’t drive, and as I live rurally, it’s very limiting. It’s reinforced my plans to move somewhere with decent public transport and walkability.

I loved the freedom driving got me and drove for over 50 years but I now have the start of mnd so am unable to drive. I hate the loss of my independence. DH, still working, drives so we shop once a week.

My Son’s partner, aged 39, doesn’t drive and doesn’t want to learn.
I can’t understand it, especially as we live in an area with very limited public transport.
Hey Ho, it’s her choice ?

I've always driven since my 20's. I've just been off camping in the New Forest with another older friend. Both in our camper vans...

Funny you should ask that ! I’ve been driving for 51 years with a totally unblemished driving record - not so much as a speeding fine, but my idiot , conniving , soon to be ‘ ex’ husband lied about me to the DVLA and my license was cancelled! Even worse is that I’m a MUCH better driver than him, as he can’t anticipate the speed of oncoming traffic, can’t read road signs and tends to doze off at the wheel.
When we met some friends the other evening in Poole, I had to scream at him as he stated to drive the wrong way down a dual carriageway !!!?‍♀️????

I can drive, but I don’t any more. We technically share a car, but it’s too big for me to drive comfortably and I prefer to use the bus. Ironically I feel I have more freedom using the bus as I never have to find a parking space and I’m not tied to being back at the car before the parking runs out. Occasionally it would be nice to just take off I suppose, but in practice I simply work around the bus timetable.

No, never had to, living in London, it's easier to get about without a car. It must have saved me a small fortune over the years - and kept me very fit too. Locals are complaining about the road closures for next Sunday's Ride London. You'd think they were being forcibly trapped indoors without their cars!

Of course

Yes

I first learned to drive in Cyprus, where at the time it was pretty easy to pass. I heard of someone who drove through a red light and still passed - the examiner said, ‘Remember next time!’ ?

After a year back in the U.K. I had to take a much more stringent test, so invested in a few lessons. I still remember the ex-police instructor who made me do a hill start over and over, when I thought I’d done it perfectly.
Eventually he said, ‘You didn’t look over your shoulder. That would be an instant fail.’
He was well worth the money!

Later we lived in Oman, where a younger female colleague (Brit) learned to drive.
At some point she told him that she wasn’t very good at reversing, so needed practice at that.
He said, ‘Oh, they don’t ask ladies to go backwards here.’ ?

I’m sure it’s very different now, when the roads are so much busier.

I've driven all my adult life and I love it! Just knowing that I can get in it and can go anywhere I want to, come back when I want to and can take any route that I want to, is a total pleasure. They will have to wrest those car keys out of my cold, dead hands before I give them up!

I drive and enjoy it on my own. I don't like having passengers especially DH. He's the worst back seat driver ever and makes me nervous. I also think I've lost a bit of confidence with driving since the pandemic as I don't drive to work anymore. If we go anywhere together DH always drives and I know I shouldn't let him but it's just easier. I need to practice more.

I do drive, but no longer in ridiculous countries where they expect you to drive on the wrong side of the road.

The last time I did that I took my hire car back to Toulouse airport and then had to lie down in a darkened room for several hours to recover.

Never again!

I’m 82. I don’t drive and have never needed or wanted to. I do live in a place where it’s easy to get taxis, though. Most of my friends drive, but I have one or two who don’t.

Cars are horrible things except when you’re in one. They pollute, they injure or kill, parked cars ruin small towns and villages, they spoil unspoilt countryside. However, they are very convenient for the driver, so I don’t suppose they’ll go away.

My father drove for his entire adult life, and we had the utmost difficulty in persuading him to give up in his mid-eighties, when he started to drive in the middle of the road and was generally not very safe. Both my sons drive. It can be useful for jobs, so I made sure they had lessons.

I used to drive for work, but then when I was at home with the DC and DH needed the car for his work day and night, I didn't drive so much and walked everywhere.

Now I'm out of practice and scared to try again, although I really should try and get some lessons in case of emergency. We rely on public transport, which we like.

Glad I learned to drive, mid 20s for me, later than some, one of my friends was behind the wheel and driving before she was 18. The most beneficial time of my driving life was when I had children, I spent my life driving them to and fro to various activities before they were off on public transport. I took the opportunity of introducing them to a lot music from my youth such as The Beatles and Rolling Stones which they often sang along to before they developed their own musical tastes. At one time my eldest (adolescent age) was very into in line skating and skateboarding, we the mothers, organised a rota to take them to and from skate park with the best ramps a few miles away, I was often on the pick up when at times they took their boots off in my car, the whiff of sweaty adolescent feet was rather overwhelming and not in a good way

Since we moved out of suburbia, although still near a large market town, I have some lovely drives around the country lanes, but am very cautious when approaching corners some drive like absolute maniacs as if they don't expect anyone else to be driving in the opposite direction, it's quite different from driving in built up areas. I can't say I enjoy driving that much, more of a necessity, I tend to limit it to supermarket shopping and going to and from my health club.

I’ve been driving for 45 years but have almost given up. We live in an area with single track roads and passing places and I just don’t feel confident about manoeuvring our big car on them, having sold my little Fiesta before we moved here. I’m fine when let loose on the motorway!

i don't drive, never wanted to but now i have epilepsy i can't even if i wanted to, my mum learned to drive in her 40s, my son does not drive even though he knows how to as he drove in the army out in iraq, he is happy for his other half do all the driving.

Currently, females with a driver's license slightly outnumber males,” Sivak said. “However, because females drive less than males, the overall likelihood that a given driver on the road today is a female is still less than 50 percent

found this on google.

I passed my test 50 years ago in London at the age of 25 in my own car. Soon after that, I met my husband, we got chatting at a party as I said I had a car and he said he could mend cars! A few months later we were married. moved up to Cheshire and learnt a new way to drive. I still loved driving and in fact since my granddaughter was born have re-learnt to drive on Motorways. A few weeks ago I had a nasty fall off my push bike and broke my clavicle and have only just started driving again. Would hate to stop driving.

Night driving - I’ll still do it on motorways and other roads with good lighting and cats’ eyes/road markings, but no way on unlit country lanes or minor roads any more.
I wouldn’t have thought twice once, but IMO it’s a fact of life that your night vision deteriorates with age.