Driving with ADHD | ADHD Information
What issues do you people here find with ADHD when it comes to how you drive?I drive good when I'm calm, but when I'm in an accelerated mood such as anger, stress, and sometimes when real happy, I'll drive really fast, and I'm hard on my vehicle. During heavy traffic, I'll lose patience from slow, careless drivers, and then find myself doubling the speed limit or more just to get around cars to find a clear spot of road so I won't be around other cars.
I've NEVER had a car accident, but I've got my fair share of speeding tickets, and got one ticket for smoking the tires in my truck taking off from a 4-way stop, because I was mad about my girlfriend and her lack of hygiene.
Also when stressed, or hyper, my driving moves are very impulsive and not thought out, and sometimes it causes me to turn on the wrong roads.
I broke the transmissions on the last 2 vehicles I've owned, because I got angry, and spun the tires too much. My car I have now is fine, but I still have to remind myself to keep my foot out of the gas some.I weave elaborate patterns in the traffic...
Makes driving less boring doesn't it?? Yes.
It tends to clutter the airspace, though.
I'm not sure what is worse - when I was in a hurry or when I discovered I could use the time to think or daydream. I weave elaborate stories in my mind that I work on when I'm driving or waiting in line etc to alleviate the boredom. It's terrible when I lose entire portions of the drive because my mind was working on a problem at work or one of my stories.
Susan Renard
I get a speeding fine every couple of months 
I also have a problem with being more interested with going on on the side of the road than watching where I'm going.
i am still trying to get my licence
i have terrible road rage and i am so inattentive i am borderline dangerous
,by the time my lesson is finished i have forgotten everything.if he tells me to turn right by the time i am at the bottom of the road i forgot.
lucky for me my instructor's wife is also ADD so he is very understanding.
did i mention that my last instructor and this one had to be hospitalised with heart problems both on a day i had a lesson with them.i say it is a coincidence,scotdaddy keeps laughing
I also have a problem with being more interested with going on on the side of the road than watching where I'm going.[/QUOTE]
I make sure the other guy gets the speeding fine. Quite a game. I don't even use radar detectors anymore. I use my eyes and my head.
I also have a problem with being more interested with going on in the side of the car than watching where I'm going. You see, I have my computer mounted on a cop desk in the middle of the cockpit.
The other day I was messing with some pics (I shoot then edit en route) from a rodeo and ran a stop sign in front of a cop. At least it wasn't a speeding fine...
My dalk termed it 'parasuicide'.
I told him he didn't know what he was dalking about.
I contributed to setting the speed standard on Hwy 99 in California.
Now everyone is driving as fast.
I also like driving fast, picking up some shadows, then turning them over to the poeleece...
The first post describes exactly how I am when I'm not taking adderall. I'm very aggressive, cannot stand bad drivers, and will also speed to get around them or to just get to where I want. It feels like a rush for speed. Now I am significantly calmer, allowing people to change lanes infront of me, being the "nice guy" of the road if you will. I'm not reacting impulsively towards something that would normally have me swearing and taking numbers. Even my view on work has changed, I use to stress on getting it done so I could go home early but now I tell myself "why rush, no need to stress, infact I love my job now".
People talking on their cellphones in the car and driving slow drives me crazy and cutting me off, oh boy, not the thing to do. I confess, I think that does bring on a little road rage in me. This is something I am currently working on. Probably sounds corney, but I have even tried to say prayers in the car instead of swears. lostmyshoe38955.811724537Fast Biking!
my instructor says i will never pass if i don't get my road rage under control
i hate people just crossing the road when they can see there is a car coming,i tend to accelerate and tell them to get a move on or i'll run them down,drivers on phone do annoy me,but my pet hate is when people turn without putting their indicator light,that really p** me off.
I run stop signs a lot too. and yellow lights.I like to speed so the Autobahn comes in handy.I am not an aggressive driver and I'm always polite in traffic and to other drivers.
I have never been the cause of an accident yet. Knock on wood !!
worldisround38956.3653472222Agreed, the feel of speed is addicting.
[QUOTE=ADHDinsane]Agreed, the feel of speed is addicting.
[/QUOTE]
Do you also feel this way for other things - like snowboarding, 4-wheeling, jetski's, roller coaster rides, etc............
I think this was one reason I did a heli rappeller assignment for a few summers also. I don't know if it is the speed rush or the living on the edge rush.
When I was a little kid I used to take my bicycle off big jumps and down huge hills without trying to use the brakes to get the rush!!! I had a lot of skateboaring accidents trying for the rush also. My day and age - little girls were not supposed to be doing this type of stuff!!!
This all developed into a love of motocross and dirtbikes and more serious injuries!!!! 
driving for me is crap. i had to do my driving test twice before i past, im a good driver but im the same as adhdinsane and LCdc. i love speed especislly how fast the car can go -its worse when im on a high and the adrenaline is pumping to the point that i cant control myself.its funny when a cop pulls u over and says why are u speeding and the only thing i can say is i dont know (the cops dont understand). have had sooooooooo many fines and lost points,lost licence ones and about to again-im also on a one year probation(in australia if u loose licence in that one year then time is doubled to two years without a licence or "go to jail and do not collect two hundred dollars". the horrible thing is due to adhd i cant seem to learn from my mistakes especially when the adrenaline is racing and i drink and drug drive-the state i live in is only one of two states in australia where drug testing has just come in as a law,ohhhhhhhhhhh sh*t!!!!!!!! ill see what happens if i get caught then maybe ill learn a very BIG lesson
[QUOTE=ADHDinsane]and got one ticket for smoking the tires in my truck taking off from a 4-way stop, because I was mad about my girlfriend and her lack of hygiene.
[/QUOTE]
ROFLMAO!! ...I just love it here!
[QUOTE=ADHDinsane]and got one ticket for smoking the tires in my truck taking off from a 4-way stop, because I was mad about my girlfriend and her lack of hygiene.
[/QUOTE]
ROFLMAO!! ...I just love it here!
[/QUOTE]
I did not catch that before - that is funny!!!!
My mum made comment the other day about my driving. She doesn't drive by the way. She stated
"Nikki, you really don't concentrate when you're driving"
Wow, that's my problem
I ran a stop sign in front of a CHP b/c I was working on my laptop.
I pulled over b4 he hit his lights.
Hey David - been chasing deer lately?
Working on a laptop while driving??
[QUOTE=ADHDinsane]I was mad about my girlfriend and her lack of hygiene.
QUOTE]
I couldn't resist when I saw this. My husband would absolutely sympathize--I have the hygiene of a SF bike messenger. Water & soap make me so uncomfortable I'll scratch myself til I bleed scars into my appendages.
Darting between cars downhill on 68O @8Omph, hyper-spastic music blasting while fixing my face w/o looking in the mirror gives new meaning to the words MorningRush(Hour)--I would die without my commute--it's my only release.
[QUOTE=bepatient][QUOTE=Davidornado] See my avatar?That's his horns.[/QUOTE] ....to shea.[/QUOTE]
Is Shea a person/member?
Or is this touche?
That's his horns.
[/QUOTE]
....to shea.
Has anybody ever done this?:
Your driving, coming up on a traffic signal. There is another signal not very far past it...You look to the further one and it's green so you obey it and then run the RED light that is nearest to you!
This is how I got my first ticket b/c I almost ran into a cop! I've done it once since then and another time barely stopped in time.
I also keep track of where new lanes kick in, and preposition to take advantage of their momentary emptiness, before the other blokes realize what they've got that they're missing, which means they don't know what they've got 'til I'm gone...
God, I love to Drive!
It's the Big Game as far as I'm concerned.
I average near 80 mph on the freeway, and have NEVER had a speeding ticket in 35 years.
I have gotten 3 speeding tickets on surface streets.
45 in a 25.
65 in a 55.
75 in a 55 (but I was doing 90).
Oh, and I killed Bambi doing 90.
Served him right.
Sucker totaled my new Explorer.
See my avatar?
That's his horns.
[QUOTE=terrie]Darting between cars on 68O ... [/QUOTE]
Oh, my.
The memories!
Some of my most memorable moments come from driving the Bay Area.
On 280 before it opened.
In a 4 car squadron doing 80 mph northbound on 101 trying to make it to SFO on time. I did.
Doing 90 in the slow lane on 280 southbound from SFO to San Jose, b/c all the stupid non-ADHDers thought the fast lane was faster, and plugged it up.
The Father Figure on 280.
The Stanford Linear Accelator. Now that's speed...
Driving through The City after 280 northbound melts into nothingness.
Then looking into a car next to mine at a stoplight in Golden Gate Park, and seeing a crush from Yosemite (my birthplace). Then stopping and talking for a few hours.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damage to The Stacks. And the bridge.
Jumping the toll on the GG bridge, just to say I did it, even as my buddy was reaching out to drop the coins... (he was in the back seat)
DUI on The Alameda. And not getting caught...
Need I continue?
[QUOTE=LCdc]Working on a laptop while driving?? [/QUOTE]
Oops. Missed one.
How'd that hpapen?
[QUOTE=LCdc]Working on a laptop while driving?? [/QUOTE]
There.
Understand now?
Understand how?
Understand cow?
I didn't hit that deer, but it looks like someone else did...
And, obviously, it was not lately.
[QUOTE=Davidornado]There.
Understand now?
Understand how?
Understand cow?
[/QUOTE]
Dude, did you call me a cow? 
The cop was wondering if I had road rage, I told him I did NOT have road rage, and I was offended by the bad driver, and he let me go.
What was really bad, is when I was honking the horn at that guy, I missed my turn!
[QUOTE=lostmyshoe]I also get frustrated when people cut me off or are in the wrong lane and want to merge in front of me, Oh does that annoy me big time. Get the H in the lane you belong and then you won't have to squeeze in when the lane merges into one. [/QUOTE]
Did you know some wag professor did a study and found that by running an empty lane then merging at the last minute, although it may blog the hell out of the other drivers, DOES get you to your destination faster?
Therefore, as an ADHDer that can't stand stalled, you should be the one driving down the empty lane and merging at the last second.
You'll spend less time behind the wheel stressin'...
Dave,I may get to my destination quicker if I get in the "wrong" lane, but then I am the idiot pissing someone else off. I am also then stuck and stressed trying to squeeze into to a non-stop line of cars and get in before the lane ends. If the road is too busy, that's when I take a side road, which sometimes winds up being faster anyway.
Dee
lostmyshoe38955.2384143519
Personally, it's the traffic lights that destroy me. I take sideroads to avoid them and I actually keep bubblewrap from packages at work in the car to pop when I get stuck at one. I also get frustrated when people cut me off or are in the wrong lane and want to merge in front of me, Oh does that annoy me big time. Get the H in the lane you belong and then you won't have to squeeze in when the lane merges into one. I find that I have to slow myself down sometimes because I hate so much waiting. By slowing myself down it helps to keep me more focused, maintain the speed limit and keep myself out of trouble, but oh those traffic lights, UGH! And Scotmoma, hang in there, you'll get it. It took me a while, but if I can do it, I know you can. I went through a couple of instructors myself. Dee
lostmyshoe38955.2284259259i get a speeding ticket one to two times a month. And i get distracted by
stuff on the side of the rode and have had some pretty close calls.When I'm having a really bad ADHD time, my feeling of speed is a bit off, and if I'm doing anything less than 50mph it feels like I'm going really slow, so I tend to drive faster.
Other times, I can drive low speeds 25-45mph and feel and do fine.I miss turns without me meds.
I also make extra turns without me meds.
When I drive with it, I have found that after I have my medication in me for about an hour I can concentrate on the road and stay focused on where I am going. I have also noticed when I don't have it in me, I swerve all over the road.[QUOTE=Davidornado]
[QUOTE=lostmyshoe]I also get frustrated when people cut me off or are in the wrong lane and want to merge in front of me, Oh does that annoy me big time. Get the H in the lane you belong and then you won't have to squeeze in when the lane merges into one. [/QUOTE]
Did you know some wag professor did a study and found that by running an empty lane then merging at the last minute, although it may blog the hell out of the other drivers, DOES get you to your destination faster?
Therefore, as an ADHDer that can't stand stalled, you should be the one driving down the empty lane and merging at the last second.
You'll spend less time behind the wheel stressin'...
[/QUOTE]
I do this David!! I can't stand it when two lanes have to merge into one and all the good little boys and girls merge as soon as possible and leave a lane open for a half mile or more!! Doesn't make sense to me! I always take the lane that will be merging into the other all the way to the end and then put my blinker on and merge!
LOFL!!! okay.but i was really jes rhymin'
and then I had that cool cow dead pic
[QUOTE=terrie]
[QUOTE=bepatient][QUOTE=Davidornado] See my avatar?That's his horns.[/QUOTE] ....to shea.[/QUOTE]
Is Shea a person/member?
Or is this touche?
[/QUOTE]
...gee I dunno
I speed all the time, not too many tickets though, not many police in our town!!
I am an aggressive driver who used to get irratated with other drivers and show my irritation. Since medication I am much better, I don't make faces or gestures at bad drivers any more.
Once my medictaion wears off in the evening - I am the same old driver I used to be.
I have always felt the need for speed behind the wheel!!! I used to race motocross and 4-wheelers, those are the only things I have had serious crashes on in the past, except the time I wrecked my dear old Moms car when I was 13........ that is a whole other story!!! 