Do you drive?

I drive at 78 and will continue to do so as long as I’m able. Like others though I don’t care for night driving, especially if it’s raining. I’ve bought an expensive pair of over glasses for eliminating headlamp glare but haven’t tried then yet.

I'm 65 and still drive, live in a rural area so it's a necessity, not over keen on night driving because of the amount of deer on our roads!
Have just decided to give up my PSV license for driving a coach, only because the cost and hassle of a yearly medical. Also delighted to have driven them for 20+ years without any incidents on the road, and with the bad, mad drivers on the roads now I'm better off out of it!!

I had to give up driving in 2001 due to my health conditions ( MS )
I feel so sad because I loved driving and get really pissed off when people come to me complaining about gazolin’s price.
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We’ve always lived in places where driving was pretty much essential. 3 children all going in different directions for clubs and activities would never have been doable either if I hadn’t driven. DH had 30 miles to travel to work and at that time we couldn’t afford to live any closer. Rule of thumb was house prices increased by £1k for every mile nearer the town. This was 1982.

All the children passed their tests at 17 - what a relief! Ds currently has 25 mile drive to school, dd1 has 20 mile drive and dd2 was driving 40 for work pre pandemic. These figures are one way. I’m so glad I drive, particularly after my hip surgery, life wouid have been much more difficult without my own transport

Cathsoc62
I seriously think you need to report your husband ……..

I find I have lost confidence in driving after lockdown, which annoys me because relying on buses is not good. My DH decided to drive everywhere so I just haven’t driven for ages!

I think it's often a lack of confidence, plus in the more traditional past 'a man took the lady out' therefore he did the driving.

OTOH, DH loved it when I learned to drive in my mid 50's and picked up the keys on our way out for a day trip, then he drove us back. Fair's fair, and it took the heat off him.

I know a few women in their seventies who have never learned to drive. One says, although she is now alone, she can always find somebody to give her a lift, which is cheaper than bus or train. I call this selfish because she never offers something towards petrol, and asks for a lift instead of being offered!

I drive, after sitting my test 8 times!, and although I hate every minute it is very conveninent because my family live 30 miles away.

We live in a village so I tend to drive everywhere. I enjoy driving and like the spontaneity of heading off whenever I want but probably wouldn’t bother if I lived in a city. I’m due to get my bus pass later this year but will probably only use it occasionally- going into the city which is a nightmare to park in etc.

Yes. I am approaching 66, passed my test when I was 17. I also ride a motorcycle, passed my test on that when I was 50, and passed an advanced test on that 4 years ago.
I would detest having to rely on anyone else to drive me about, or on the notoriously expensive and unreliable buses we have in Bristol.

I learned to drive in the 1970s and used to drive a lot, including long distance. When DH retired 20+ years ago he took over the driving (he hated being driven). Foolishly I let this happen. I drove less and less to the point where I haven't driven for over a year now. Fortunately we live very close to all facilities in our town and have good transport links on our doorstep but I regret letting my driving lapse. The last two years of Covid have also been a knock to my confidence and as I approach the end of my 70s I don't feel I can pick up driving again. In retrospect I see how stupid I was to let DH dominate the driving role. A warning to others.

I've been driving since I was 17. Dread ever losing my wheels, as I see them as independence. Covid lockdowns knocked my confidence but now back to normal!

Most of my friends around my age (67) drive, though a have a few older friends who don't. I don't particularly enjoy driving long distances, especially on my own, so often have to book an overnight stop. Having said that I recently drove my daughter from Edinburgh to home just outside London after she broke her ankle on a Scottish mountain! I managed that ok though I had her for company, even if she was 'working' in the back seat. I had to turn the music off for her meetings and phone calls!
I have younger friends who seem surprised that I will tackle a long journey as they only do pottering locally. I do try to limit myself to about 200 miles in one go, and avoid night time driving on unfamiliar roads.
When I was married my ex did most of the long distance driving and only let me drive if he was really tired. He did all the short local driving if we went anywhere together but I was expected to drive home if he wanted to drink! Since my divorce I had to get used to long distance driving again but I've taken it in my stride. I can't imagine how I would cope without being able to drive and having a car!

Yes I’m 72 have driven since I was 17. I’m probably a bit more cautious these days!

I had my first driving lesson at 17. The instructor told my parents that, because of my ‘drop foot’ and other consequences of polio’ when I was an infant, it would be dangerous for me to drive. So, that was that. I did bring up the idea of me driving , from time to time, but they were so panicked by the thought that I gave up. After they died, I did learn but never passed my test. I should have done it in my youth but it was too stressful for them. All my siblings drive.

I drive, but don't really enjoy it anymore. My parents never learnt to drive and neither did my sister. I ended up the taxi for all the family, even taking aunts and uncles to hospital appointments, shopping, etc. I used to love going a run in the car for the day, but now I can't be bothered, traffic is crazy and so are some of the eejits on the roads and don't get me started in the price of fuel for the car either.....

BlueBelle

I ve never driven and feel no loss and no it’s not all women both my male boss and two male workers in their thirtie/ forties don’t drive …neither my mum or dad drove and no one in my family owned a car my best friend has never driven either
I walk cycle or use my free bus pass I spend a LOT less money than drivers and I don’t pollute the world maybe I ve got it right
All my children learnt to drive at 17

It's not really a matter of 'getting it right' though is it? There are places so isolated that it could be impossible to exist without a car. I think that a driving licence is like a qualification that you can choose to use or not but I don't think some kind of moral high ground comes into it at all. It's just a matter of circs.

I drive both here and abroad, though I found some motorways round Amsterdam really scary. Had to go to IKEA there for a rest!
I don’t like driving in Birmingham in the rain at night though.

I learned at 17, mostly because my father needed someone to pick him up from the ship at all hours of the day and night when he docked.
I have never regretted learning and still enjoy driving. I found myself with a floater in one eye a year ago and thought that was the beginning of the end for me as a driver, but it wasn't. Actually my brain has accommodated my floater and I rarely notice it.
Some years back I even passed the mini bus test. The actual test was on a freezing day in January with icy roads and a heater in the test centre mini bus that didn't work. I had to scrape the inside windscreen as I went along. I surprised myself that day.

My Mum tried but gave up learning to drive (my Dad was not a patient teavcher), but my 4 sisters and I all drive. I passed my test at 18. Am glad I can drive now as I live 12 miles from shops and the local buses are few and far between.

Yes. My late mother, born in 1916, also drove. She even used American highways when she lived there, aged 44-51. My daughter drove here and now in Australia.

Just collected my 'new' used car today. My last one was with me for 12 years. It became an extension of my body. So easy to drive.
Today, even after a long lesson from friendly Max I haven't a clue what all the buttons are for.
Scared I might press the ejector seat button by accident!

I love the independence my car gives me. Passed my car test at 24, and my motorbike test a few months later, although I haven't ridden a motorbike for 25 years. My 33 year old son doesn't drive, although he is now acknowledging he should learn - living in London there's a bus or a train within a mile. However, I've moved out of London into a tiny village in Lincolnshire in the last 3 months, and would struggle without my car. While car insurance has dramatically gone down with the change of address, petrol costs and my usage have spiralled!

I am seriously considering updating my driving skills. In London, you drive for a couple of minutes and there's a junction, or a traffic light, or a crossing to stop at. Now I drive for 30 minutes without a pause .. and in Lincolnshire the dead wildlife on the road troubles me - I'd hate to kill an animal, and I'm currently driving 25 miles to the nearest Station two days a week at dawn and dusk on unlit roads. Nightmare.

I am proud I passed my test. Neither of my parents drove, neither of my sisters drive - we couldn't afford a car when I was a child, and again, London Transport is exceptional (most days).

Further to Shandy57s remarks above, I think a significant number of women in the past went out to work primarily to afford to be able to own, and drive, a second car.

Personally as a man I have never driven. I am far too erratic and would be lethal in a car. For me my bike, public transport and walking have always been more than good enough ways of getting about and I have worked all over the place. I have NEVER felt the lack of that particular skill to be any way limiting, although I will admit that for supermarket shopping, the fact that my wife can run us there and put all the groceries in the boot, is a definite advantage.