AIBU to feel I have left it too late to drive?

[Aabbaas]

I am so upset with myself for this.
I am 40. Learnt to drive in my home country when I was 18, then moved to London shortly after and never had to drive again. I took some refresher lessons a few years ago but never actually managed to become comfortable on the road. Life, DC, work got in the way and I never prioritised driving. Now I feel I am back to square one. I took a few more lessons recently and I have been doing ok but I am scared of starting to drive our car by myself or, even worse, with DC.
I can’t park well either and this stops me from taking the car to go places.
I fear I have lost my boat and it is so frustrating as driving seems to be one of those very basic and effortless life skill for everyone else.

Anyone in a similar position or if you have overcome this, how?

OP, you need to practise lots of driving at seven or 8 am on a Sunday morning. If other cars are the issue, then you need to drive on roads when there are few cars around but still daylight.

I am the same, passed age 17, now mid 40s and have barely driven since. In fact, I have not driven at all since one refresher lesson about 15 years ago. I know I need to re-learn to make my life easier as I get older but it's a scary thought!

I learnt to drive in my mid 40s.

You were snarky to that one poster saying to get your license. But the principle is the same. You need to take more lessons to build your confidence.

I passed my test last year at the age of 42. I had no interest in driving and I'm still not the biggest fan of it but it does open up so much freedom. It sounds like you have lost confidence rather than being unable to do it so keep going with the lessons and hour by hour you will improve and your confidence will grow.

My dear mum god rest her soul passed at age 60!

Not too late at all - I passed my test at 18 then never drove again (combination of fear and living in a city with great public transport for 20 years). Then I moved to a more rural area and my new job really necessitated driving. So at age 43, after having never driven for 25 years, I took refresher lessons with a lovely, patient instructor, then she began sitting with me in my own car for the lessons (she popped a portable L plate sign on the top and back/front of my car for each lesson) and my confidence just grew and grew! Because I had to go back to square one, I asked her to make sure she felt I was ‘test ready’ (even though I didn’t need to take the test) before we finished our lessons. I also studied the theory test side of things again and did a few online practice ones until I got 100%! 3 years later, I absolutely love driving and it has truly transformed my life. Hang in there!!

Never. It takes 140 hours to get used to ca car new or old. You will be fine and think of all the amazing places you can visit and see.

I would do the pass plus course which is specifically for confidence post passing your driving test.

My.grama learnt to drive in her 60s! She was scared at first and was never totally confident as a driver but she was happy to shuttle around her main places with a small car and it have her a lot of independence.

It's just practice OP.

Continue with your lessons, build confidence and don't rush yourself

You may have a licence already but you haven't driven for so long you're rusty. Start from the beginning as if you're a new driver.

Not at all i thought you was going to say you where 70

If you haven't yet, swap to an automatic. I learnt to drive abroad and this made adjusting here so much easier. I have seen this with lots of friends as well. You can just purely concentrate on traffic and driving.

I agree with all the other posters. I learned in the UK and passed my test at 18 but then barely drove for about 12 years.
I now live in another country (so driving on the other side of the road) and was really nervous at first (still am sometimes!) Stick with it and keep practising.
At one point I thought I might have developed a driving phobia, so bought an online course to get over it, but I think it was just a lack of practice.
Also, I read recently that driving anxiety can be a perimenopause symptom, so it's a good idea to get back into it now!