Anxious Behind The Wheel: Tips To Help You Overcome Driving Anxiety

Many new drivers feel anxious when getting behind the wheel. If you feel nervous in the driver's seat, you're not alone! Driving anxiety is common, especially for people who have had a negative in-car experience, like an accident. While anxiety can be frustrating, there are ways to combat those nerves and help uncertain drivers become more confident behind the wheel.

Common Causes of Driving Anxiety

Before we talk about how to help alleviate driving anxiety, we'll need to identify and explore the most common causes of stress in the car.

Not Being In Your Comfort Zone

One common cause of driving anxiety is being forced outside of your "comfort zone." Driving in new environments and conditions can be stressful for a new driver, who does not yet have the experience to deal with more challenging situations on the road. Some examples of this can be driving in a busy city when you normally drive in the country, or driving through a snowstorm with icy, snowy roads. Regardless of the circumstances, if you are driving outside of your comfort zone, anxiety is likely to creep in.

Past Experiences

Previous experiences in a car can sometimes trigger an anxious reaction to driving. Even something as simple as a minor fender-bender can cause a driver to become nervous when faced with a similar situation. This reaction is exacerbated if a driver has been involved in a more serious vehicle incident.

You Are Normally An Anxious Person

If you are normally an anxious person, then you know general anxiety can pretty much creep into every aspect of your life. If you are feeling anxious in the car, then you will feel overwhelmed, which can leave you feeling restless, fatigued, unable to concentrate, irritated, and worried. Being anxious can impact your emotional well-being and can adversely affect your driving abilities.

Tips To Help Deal With Driving Anxiety

Just a quick side note, but if you are driving and feel like you are having a panic attack or some other form of anxious episode, you should pull over immediately until that fear subsides. An anxiety attack can cause blurred vision or other physical symptoms, which can put you and others on the road in harm's way.

Relaxation Techniques

If your driving anxiety is on the milder side of things, you might try some of these relaxation techniques to help manage your nerves:

• Meditation
• Deep breathing
• Listening to relaxing music
• Progressive muscle relaxation

Visualization

Try sitting down and imagining what a successful drive might look like. If you start to feel anxious during this exercise, what techniques do you use to help focus your attention and bring your heart rate and breathing down? By practicing in your own head first, you can experience what driving anxiety might feel like and how you might manage it without any immediate physical danger from other vehicles or pedestrians on the road.

Driving Lessons

One of the best ways to combat driving anxiety is by taking lessons with a professional driving instructor. Driving instructors are trained to work with anxious drivers and will help you gain confidence by introducing new skills and environments step-by-step in a controlled, friendly, and supportive manner.

Coastline is on a mission to eradicate car crashes by training safe and confident drivers for life. Learn why Coastline instructors have over 100,000 5-star reviews by signing up for behind-the-wheel lessons via our website or phone/text at 1-800-489-1896.