To be petrified driving on motorways

[mollyfolk]

Anyone else scared of driving on motorways? I'm driving years but mostly within 20km of where I live. I avoid motorways or long distances as much as possible. I have to make a 3 hour journey now on Monday, mostly motorway, and I am already feeling sick about it.

I do breathing exercises to stay calm when driving like this. Has anyone overcome a phobia like this?

I used to love driving on motorways and I did over 20k miles per year as part of my job.
I hate it now, not because I'm nervous but as a PP said, the level of incompetence of other drivers is startling. Middle lane hoggers being mobile roadblocks which cause people to undertake. Idiots that think they can police the road by driving at 70 without anything in the left lane, they're more dangerous than anyone and should update themselves on the Highway Code.
I was pleased to see a few 'keep left unless overtaking' signs on the M1 recently but clearly people don't read them which is a problem in itself!

Can you drive on a dual carriageway? If yes, then driving on a motorway is even easier.

Everyone is going the same way, you’re not avoiding parked cars or turning into oncoming traffic, slip roads are long with lots of visibility.

Shortly after I passed my test I had to drive round the M25 and I found it way easier than the busy A roads I had learnt on! Bring a nice drink, put a podcast on, chill in the left lane for 3 hours.

A relative of mine refuses point blank to drive on the M25. She'll happily drive on the M2, the M20 etc. but if you suggest going anywhere involving the M25 she immediately shuts it down as an option. It's not that different and mostly slow moving because of all the speed controls in place. It gets in the way of doing things with her though which is very frustrating.

With motorways everyone is going in the same direction in a fairly straight line, no roundabouts, traffic lights, corners, pedestrians, bikes etc.
You literally drive in a straight line at a speed you are comfortable with.

This^^

How can anyone consider themselves a competent driver when they're unable to make use of certain types of roads. Do you also not use duel carriageways?

No help to you at this point OP, but in the new year book yourself some driving lessons so that you can be taught how to drive on motorways without putting you and other drivers at risk due to your fear. Meanwhile go by train for this current journey.

Motorway driving can be really easy if the roads are clear as it's basically just putting your foot down and going. But equally it can be quite stressful if it's very busy or there's a lot of road works and variable speed cameras, so don't put yourself through the ordeal as it's likely to be busy this time of year.

If you never drive further than near your home and always on the same roads I imagine you will find it very stressful as you're going to be way out of your comfort zone. A panicking driver on a busy motorway is going to cause an accident.

The more you do it, the less scary it is.

I find it by far easier, when I lived in the country, it was always more difficult to overtake and there were many fatal crashes with youn inexperienced drivers. Agree either take instruction or get an experienced driver to go with you. Just a matter of confidence

I understand, and I don't really like driving on motorways, but they are statistically safer than other roads, partly because a barrier separates you from the cars going in the other direction. I now go on a short stretch of motorway every day to work, so I'm more used to it. I think if you do it rarely, and only for long, important one-off journeys, you don't become more relaxed about it.

I wouldn't choose a motorway if there was another option, but yes it can be a bit daunting if not used to it, so many idiots. Don't be bullied into going faster than you feel comfortable with, that's why there are lanes so others can overtake and go at whatever speed they want to.

I really don't like driving on the motorway - I don't like people joining and leaving - the speed some people go and find it extremely stressful. If someone else is happy to drive - I always let them. If no one else is able to drive, I way up the pros and cons of either not going, or go by train.
I drove on the motorway the other - I could have got out of going but would have felt worse if I hadn't attended - most of the time I will avoid.

I took some l theanine tablets about half an hour before I went and about half an hour before I returned. I don't know if it was placebo but it helped.

I prefer motorways. All traffic going in the same direction, no traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists, idiots pulling out of side roads etc etc

THIS!!!!

No animals/children/idiots running into the middle of the road.

I work in insurance. Car vs person claims always go in favour of the pedestrian even if the pedestrian is an idiot!

Motorway; take a nice (non-alcoholic) drink, put on your favourite tunes and enjoy the drive!

At the moment I have badly lit, only just wide enough, muddy A roads with the too bright headlights, many with barely visible road markings, even fewer with cats eyes.

I have to drive along these to get to the motorway where I breathe a sigh of relief.

OP, I have become quite nervous since in recent years I span off the road on mud and had someone drive into me at a roundabout.
I absolutely will not let it become A THING because I really need to be able to drive confidently.

Can you identify what exactly you are afraid of and work on beating it?

I used to be, then I got divorced so had to pull up my socks, put on my big girl pants and do it, I'm not saying i wasn't super nervous at first and still I'm not that keen but I drive on them even at night if I need too

I was like you and didn't go on a motorway for years after passing my test.

Take some motorway lessons.

Now I prefer to drive on motorways rather than other roads. So much easiedr.

@Carouselfish

Most the a roads around here are 60 or 70 mph, plus narrower and bendier than motorways. Please don't be that driver travelling at 30 mph on a 70 mph a road as this in its self is dangerous, people coming around bends slamming on brakes causes accidents not to mention frustrated drivers overtaking - we can all say they shouldn't be going to fast but back in the real world...

Drive for the road which on single carriageway a roads in rural areas typically is no slower than 50mph on average, a speed it's quite acceptable to drive in lane one of motorways too

I use the A roads. I just allow the extra time

I don’t really live near a motorway but I do have a major A road near me which practically is a motorway. I learned to drive on it and so when I passed my test and could then drive on a proper motorway I couldn’t understand the difference! I only discovered recently that some people never drive on a motorway type road until they pass their test, as not everyone has a major A road near them that is similar.

I am too. Im autistic and I struggle with the quick decision-making and judging speed & distance. I also catastrophize which isn’t great on a motorway!

I went on numerous advanced driving courses before accepting that it’s just something I’m never going to get comfortable with. I walk wherever I can and then get public transport but I do live in a central area.

@pooballs

The point is that it's not actually any different on motorways, in fact the lanes are wider, the roads tend to be better quality, the curves are more gradual, it's actually easier on the motorway for any distance beyond local. If you can drive on a roads, you can drive on motorways

I don’t like motorways either but have driven on them before factoring in comfort breaks and if necessary someone with me.

I live in the north of Scotland where there are no motorways. I passed my test 5 years ago and drove on a motorway for the first time this year.

I was anxious about it but found watching YouTube videos of people having driving lessons on the motorway really helpful. I obviously never had the opportunity to have that type of lesson. I'd suggest choosing ones that don't have clickbaity titles or visuals. A lot of these content creators have cameras that show the rear view etc.

Oh god, I would love to have your motorways , we have glorified dual carriageways as excuses for motorways and they are hell to drive on. That and country roads and B roads, no street lighting, mud everywhere, animals loose, people wearing black with no lights walking along the side, getting blinded by oncoming.......

First time I ever drove on a "proper" motor way, we had crossed over to Liverpool heading to London, DH got us out of Liverpool and I took over, till the last services before the M25, he got us to destination in London. Coming home it was an early start and we were crossing from Scotland, I did London to Gretna and he took us the last bit

Yes I was crapping myself at first but once I had got used to having traffic all around me, I was fine, even when the hard shoulder was opened up on the M40 it was scary but ok

I have the sat nav within eyesight ( I dont like the onboard I prefer google maps ) . I have everything I might need to reach for within easy reach so I can grab a sweet, a drink, a tissue without taking eyes of the road for a second . Minute I feel like its getting monotonous , I pull in at a service station, stretch my legs

There was a time there going through the menopause when brain fog was at its worse and my nerves were shot, that I started to avoid driving. Only I live rural so I had to get back behind the wheel. I had someone pull directly out in front of me in the summer , I needed to do an emergency stop, I had my Granddaughter in the car. No one hurt, no harm done, but again it knocked me back and I was getting palpitations when anywhere near traffic. I saw a counsellor connected to the surgery and she gave me affirmations to tell myself, and I will say I am still tense, Im back out driving

I'm 55
Passed my test at 17
Never driven on a motorway in my life 😫
Drive everyday for work
I feel your pain

My wife was like this when we first got together and refused to drive on the motorway unless she absolutely had to.

I am the opposite and prefer driving on motorways and country roads to towns, having learned to drive in Norfolk before moving to Leeds. With family in rural Norfolk, Devon and Scotland, her refusal to drive on motorways massively restricted what we could do as it was impossible to access many of those places easily on public transport, and led to arguments as I was not willing to drive everywhere all the time whenever we wanted to visit friends and family.

Eventually she agreed to give it a try, first a couple of hours of driving on the A1 when we went to visit family in Scotland, and has gradually built up more and more. And once when I was unwell with the flue at the end of a holiday, she had to drive from Luton airport back to Leeds and said "this is such an easy drive" and that she didn't know why she had built it up so much!

Now she regularly drives from Leeds to Cambridge to see her best friend, and drove down to Devon this Easter on her own! I couldn't be more proud of her.

Making the switch to a more powerful and bigger car has also helped, previously we had a 1.2 Fiesta and now have a 2.0 Diesel Seat Leon, which is far better to drive on the motorways and feels much safer. I would say though to start off with small stints and maybe some lessons, but motorway driving is generally far far easier than town or city driving.