Overcoming fear of driving

[Croissantsfordinner]

Long story short is that I got my driving licence back when I was 18, was in a car crash (I was fine but car wasn't, not my fault) and that got me a bit scared of driving. I then spent the next decade in London where I didn't need to drive so reached a point where I was very nervous about driving. A couple of years ago I took a few refresher lessons and I was doing fine but never actually need the car to go places on a regular basis so the lack of opportunities to drive + fear of DC's safety have pushed me back to a stage where I am now a bit scared of driving again, especially the thought of having DC in the car with me.
Part of me really want to overcome this and become free from this restriction, then I think I could still get by in life easily without driving and I sort of talk myself out of it again.
Has anyone been in a similar situation?

The car is definitely a luxury and if you live in a city it can be a bit of a burden. I drove for about 7 years, had an minor accident (not my fault either but it was 3rd party insurance and had to go court), long story short is we had to wait a year for insurance pay out by which time I lost confidence and didn't feel I needed it in the city, no car parking etc. I stopped driving and then didn't drive for a few years until a week before my first DC was born, I just about squeezed behind the wheel and felt terrified. I was really nervous for quite a while especially with a newborn in the back not to mention sleep deprived but I took it slow and built up to longer journeys. I was really determined to focus on what I wanted for my family, the types of adventures and memories I wanted to make. It came back fine after a while and opened up places for us to visit and could see family and go to NT sites etc, drive to the airport for holidays. Now I use it for commuting so it opened that up. Whenever I felt really anxious, I tried to channel a cool character like Mike from Breaking Bad and it weirdly helped! Sorry you had that bad experience but the fear can and does go with time. Try not to let fear stop you from leading the type of life you want.