
Vehophobia or the fear of driving can impact one’s daily life especially since most of us are dependent on this activity to get by. It can affect one to an extent that s/he refuses to go shopping, visit a doctor or even drive to work. Individuals with the extreme fear of driving prefer public transport or request friends or family members to drive them each time. This is fine, so long as these options are available at one’s disposal. However, this might not be the case always affecting the individual’s education, job and other activities negatively.
There are varying degrees of Vehophobia. Some individuals are only anxious about driving on highways or certain dreaded routes. Some are unable to pass their driving tests or acquire a license. A few might be having valid driving licenses but they pose a danger to themselves as well as other drivers. They can have a panic attack while driving and freeze up to an extent that they are unable to apply brakes or change gears etc. In extreme cases, a person may even be terrified of being a passenger in the vehicle.
Causes of extreme fear of driving phobia
An individual with the extreme phobia of driving has likely had a negative experience in the past.
- S/he might have been involved in a crash or witnessed a particularly bad accident.
- Having strict driving instructors at the time of learning can also lead to Vehophobia.
- Having experienced a particularly dangerous or scary journey through fog, rain, snow, fleet or other adverse conditions or having large animals such as a moose or deer dart suddenly in front of one’s car can cause this phobia.
- Seeing anxious parents panic while driving can lead a child to have vehophobia.
- Road rage from fellow driver or passerby (where one has shouted or provoked the individual).
- Experiencing stress due to traffic congestions; these can cause the brain to develop panic/anxiety response each time one gets behind the wheel.
- People prone to anxiety attacks or nervous disorders or those with adrenal deficiencies are likely to develop the fear of driving.
- Hearing or reading news items about bad accidents or watching movies that depict violent car crashes can create negative thoughts about driving.
Symptoms of Vehophobia
Vehophobia can lead to various symptoms that can be characterized as emotional and physical.
The physical symptoms include: shaking, trembling, having a dry mouth, rapid heart rate, shallow breathing, chest pains, nausea, sweaty hands etc. Such a panic attack can occur each time the individual gets behind the wheel. It can cause one to freeze up so that s/he is unable to change gears or apply the brakes.
Emotional symptoms include refusing to drive, avoiding situations that encompass driving, feeling panic, terror or extreme dread at thought of driving, experiencing terrifying images about driving. The individual also feels detached or removed from reality, in that; he or she feels the events are happening to someone else.
Some people may try to avoid highways or take longer routes so that they do not have to drive on dreaded roads. Others may get into arguments or fights with loved ones and come up with excuses when forced or compelled to drive.
Overcoming the fear of driving phobia
- Hypnotherapy is one of the most effective therapies for overcoming the fear of driving. It gets to the bottom of the fear, traces why it has taken root and helps provide solutions to overcome the same.
- Facing one’s fear is one of the best ways of getting over Vehophobia. It is important to reduce tension and stress of any kind when getting behind the wheel. Imagining positive thoughts and visualizing ideal situations are some ways of accomplishing this. A therapist can also help one relearn or ‘un-learn’ negative things the brain has taught itself.
- Talking about one’s fears, and taking defensive driving lessons, or joining special groups that help one overcome such a phobia are a few other methods of dealing with Vehophobia.
- Cognitive behavior therapy and gradual desensitization are some other options to help one overcome this phobia.
There are various therapies to overcome Vehophobia but it is vital to choose one that you are most comfortable with, in conjunction with a medical practitioner’s advice. Understand that you are not alone, and there are many like you who have dealt with this phobia. It is very possible to overcome Vehophobia and success in driving again is very much possible.
Good afternoon! I have a fear of driving over most bridges and highways over 45 mph. I’m okay at 30 mph. Can you please give me some resources I can try. Driving phobia is tricky because you can’t necessarily just get in the car and change it! You have to factor in safety of yourself and others. I once drove and froze up on a bridge and stopped. I haven’t gone that route since, and that was like 7 years ago. Terrifying! I currently go to a therapist, but I need a more direct approach. Talking about my symptoms with the therapist and assigning a number to the fear is not helping. I have used the “tapping” method, but I need more. I was thinking hypnotherapy. I once tried hypnotherapy without any luck, but maybe it’s the person doing the therapy. I also tried driving lessons, but had a bad instructor, who basically chastised me and devalued my phobia.
Thank you kindly!
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca,
Just wanted to let you know you are not alone. I have developed a fear related to driving over the last few years. I drove without problem for about 30 years and then began to suffer from this phobia. I have tried all the treatment methods you discussed, so far with little to no success. The relaxation techniques I have been taught do help to reduce the fear but have not rid me of the phobia and medication prescribed by my family physician makes things easier but I am still searching for a cure. I think the hardest part is making others understand. Most people are sympathetic but cannot really understand the problem. The driving instructor you spoke of is a jerk, forget him. I have not found a therapist so far who can treat this but I am still hopeful and you should be too. Try your best to keep forging ahead as I keep telling myself to do. In the end, I think that you are the only one who can succesfully cure yourself. There will come a time when you discover the solution and overcome the fear. I keep telling myself that I will find a way past this obstacle in my life. That’s what humans do. It’s the reason we still exist. Sorry I’m starting to ramble. Forgive me. Anyway, you are not the only one. Try to find some group of fellow sufferers for support.
Best of luck,
JL
My driving phobia is the worst. When i was learning to drive i was very excited and couldn’t wait to get my license and get behind the wheel. After I finally got my licence and bought a car, that is when it started.
Honestly for me it was a while after I started getting behind the wheel. I went to my road classes just fine, and I even drove to my college classes. My mom wanted me to take the main roads but I preferred the back roads because they had less drivers. She wanted me driving every day. But then I was driving to the mall with my mom and I started panicking because I had made a mistake that would have gone terribly wrong. That was in August, it’s December now. I haven’t driven since then because I’m afraid to now. The thing is, I’m worried about getting into an accident. I don’t have my license yet and I’m 18. I still have my permit but I think it might expire soon. I want to get a job but in January a new semester will start and I won’t have time. I’m seriously thinking of getting a job at the grocery store and taking the forty minute WALK just to avoid driving…
I have a fear of driving because about a year ago my sister and I were involved in a very bad accident. A woman swerved into our lane going 50 miles an hour. I was driving and she hit our car head-on. We went airborn and crashed into a corn field. After the accident the paramedics and police keep telling us about how much of a miracle it was that we didn’t get hurt more. If my sister and I hadn’t been wearing our seat belts we would have died. I’m still trying to get over my fear but it’s extremely hard. Now when ever I try to drive or even get in a car I have massive panic attacks and I’m only 18 years old. :(
My father was his most abusive at the time I was learning to drive. He was a child predator who chose me as his target. When I stopped the abuse at age 12 (after 6 years of sexual abuse) the abuse changed form to mental, verbal, emotional and, eventually physical abuse. I can drive, it’s just very stressful for me to do so. This is why I moved to NYC, where public transportation is more readily available. But I need to overcome it so I can move out of this stressful environment.
I am supposed to be getting my Driver’s license the day after tomorrow, and I am really nervous. I started Driver’s ed in the beginning of the school year and was terrible at driving at first but I got a better. I’m a decent driver and all, and much better than what i used to be, it’s just I am so nervous what with the fact that I still need practice and getting used to turning out into the highway, and even after i stop driving, I’m still uncontrollably shaking. I’ve tried everything I could to stop being nervous such as breathing and staying positive, but nothing works. I’ve been hearing about a lot of deaths of people dying close to where i live due to accidents, I was in two accidents, and I’ve been around a lot of strict people. I was even teased for being bad at it while i took Driver’s ed. Worst of all, I can’t even talk to anyone about it because they’ll either make fun of me or tell me not to be dramatic, or just tell me to quit talking about it even while i recommend getting more practice just to get used to being on the road, the highway scares me the most.
Try chewing gum while you are driving, it helps. My sister is terrified to drive and she does it.
I am in my 30’s and have never had a license. I am absolutely terrified behind the wheel and this has prevented me from having friends, activities, and holding a job long term since I cannot rely on everyone else to take me all the time. I drove a little when I was a teen but never confidently or frequently. There isn’t one particular instance that I can recall that has caused my severe vehophobia, but almost a domino effect of smaller things.
I just found this site and I’m glad to know that such a phobia exists. I think I have a mild phobia of this because I still haven’t got my license and I’m already 30 yrs old. I took Driver’s Ed 5 years ago and drove for a year and a half and didn’t pass. Since then, I haven’t been practicing and I’m very reluctant to get back behind the wheel. The thought of driving makes me quite anxious but it’s not that bad once I do get inside the car. What makes me feel anxious is when I fail to see what’s in front of me or behind me and I make the wrong turn, then I start to panic. It probably seems normal when that happens but when I make little mistakes like that, I get stressed out and start to dread driving again. I want to be able to overcome this soon so that I can get around places instead of relying on public transportation all the time or walking too much (especially when it’s getting close to winter) so I’m going to really work on my breathing and just trying to relax when I drive.
I can’t drive yet, but I’m still terrified of the thought. it is because when i was in grade 1 (CENTURIES AGO! … okay, maybe exaggerating) instead of my dad picking me up, it was my mom. she told us that our dad was in a car accident. it wasn’t technically his fault, the car behind him was speeding, and once he stopped to a red light, the car behind him didn’t stop quick enough, and hit his car behind him, pushing his car towards the car infront of him, the car behind him, damaging their own car and two others. (the car behind him got the front of his/her car damaged, my dad’s car being damaged in the front part and back part of his car, and the car in the front having the back damaged) that made me scared ENOUGH, but after my first ride on a Roller Coaster, i was TERRIFIED of anything moving, including cars. that gave me a fear of Death.
I don’t drive on highways and I will drive an extra 5 miles if I have to just to avoid a difficult left turn.
Hello i’m 17 years old and i have driving phobia. I don’t drive on busy roads. I live in India and hear traffic so loud that I can’t drive on highways.
My driving anxiety makes me not want to drive anywhere I haven’t before, I fear I will get lost, put myself or others in danger, make an illegal turn, people judging me/beeping me, not knowing where to park, having a panic attack. Everything. It’s terrible and I can feel my partner getting annoyed but it’s hard to ‘get over it’.
Reading this, it’s obvious that I get it from my mother.
I am 58 and moved up to Tennessee where these mountains are terrible.
I have had two bad panic attacks and pulled over and had my husband come get me.
I know if I stop driving completely that it trains the body to fear. So I been getting up and making myself drive close to home. I do relaxing thoughts and turn music on and sit in the car for a few minutes before I start. My dr. Has given me some medication for anxiety. I have not taken it yet.
We teach ourselves to fear by putting to much thought in it. Positive thinking about driving before you get behind the wheel helps.
Don’t drive if you put yourself and others in danger.
But don’t give up. Drive short trips even if it’s around a block. Enjoy the view and put your thoughts on happiness. Good luck. 👍 I am still working on it.
Wow I am in the same situation, I didn’t develop this until I moved to Tennessee. So I know how you feel. I am getting much better though. It helps to just do it, and that’s easier said than done.
I’m so terrified of driving, I don’t even know why? I just am scared to even get behind the wheel.
I have a mild case of agoraphobia, which makes me uncomfortable outside my house. It also gives me a great fear of driving. I’m 27 and tried getting a driver’s license twice, with no luck. I know the theory part by heart, but each time I get behind the wheel I freak out. My husband tried teaching me but lost his patience. My father-in-law, who’s a teacher, and a lot more patient, tried helping me but I nearly crashed into a mailbox and spooked him. Recently my brother tried teaching me as well, with no luck. I would be completely fine without a license but I live in Tennessee, where everything is far away and little to no public transportation is available. My fear turned me into a recluse. I have no friends. I spend all my free time at home. I have to ask my father-in-law, or my husband to take me places, or call a cab if neither of them can drive me. I work a crappy retail job even though I am well educated and have a great work ethic. This fear is holding me back so much, I get so frustrated… But each time I try driving it’s the same old story – I get scared to tears and give up.
Hi Ana. I am also 27 years old and you actually took these words out of my mouth. I also suffer from extreme guilt as I have to worry about people taking me around. I always cry myself to sleep thinking about it. I often think to myself that I’m so dumb that I can’t drive. It always seems like everyone can and I can’t. I really wish I could drive myself, to any place I want to. I have too many things that I could do if only I could drive. It would free me forever.
This is years after the last comment, but I want to add something anyway. I’ve been in two car accidents last year, but for some reason I am struggling more so now. For me, I can drive random places, but am scared to drive to consistently, planned places like work. I often think about the amount I drive and the probability of getting into another accident. The last two weren’t my fault, but I still feel judged by family members who tell me I could’ve done something differently. I know I did my best, but I keep having images of a car being hit, it rolling over and snapping the neck of the driver. How morbid. Help!
Wow so many from Tennessee lol. I live in TN as well and I have severe anxiety and I’m in a very stressful situation right now. I’m pregnant and I can’t even make it to my Dr appointments. I started having anxiety a couple yrs ago and never sought help like I should’ve. The anxiety wasn’t severe so I just dealt with it and pushed myself to drive. Now that I’m pregnant which I found out in March this yr, I’ve had severe anxiety! I def think hormones play a role also probably genetics too since my mom has an anxiety disorder. I can no longer drive, I used to be able to ride with other people and now I can’t even do that. I’m terrified of getting into vehicles period. I also have social anxiety and agoraphobia which I’ve never had before. Its like my anxiety just keeps getting worse. I know I need to get to my Dr who unfortunately is in another town. My Dr is aware of my anxiety issues. I know the longer I wait and delay treatment, the worse its going to be and how this is affecting my baby I don’t know. I know it’s affecting my family. I know I’m a burden and my husband is having to do everything since I don’t drive anymore. Its a fear of fear. I wish God would heal me. I wish I’d snap out of this mess. I don’t trust myself driving either. I’ve done some pretty dangerous stupid things almost wrecking. I feel like I’m a danger to myself and others on the road. I hate the freeway and I don’t like highways either. I like back roads but there’s not always back roads to take. I hate traffic, intersections, hills,etc. Just everything to do with a car and driving. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could ride with other people like I used to. I also have a phobia of heights which I’ve had since I was a little kid. There’s so many hills and bluffs where I live, it sucks. Life just sucks for me hopefully it won’t always be like this.
Are there any driving schools that assist with vehophobia in experienced drivers? In North suburbs of Chicago??
I have my license, but I have always had this phobia. I just got my license last year and was so excited because finally at the age of 33 I did it. I had failed my driving test twice a long ago because I got so nervous. Well the first time driving a long distance by myself I wrecked my boyfriend’s car. I suffer extreme guilt and shame from having to depend on everyone to take me places. I feel so alone, even after my therapist told me a lot of people suffer from this phobia. I live in TN. I pray we all find a way to deal with this so we can live the lives we want.
I always had this fear ever since my cousin died in a car accident while going to his doctor’s apartment
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Hello, my name is Evelyn. I’m 19 years old, I have autism and ADHD and special needs and lots of anxiety.
My fear of driving is bad enough to where I can’t even pass a written exam. I have never driven a car in my entire life. Well, one is because I was very developmentally delayed as a child and now I am physically capable of driving, my brain says otherwise. Anxiety is crippling. I want a job to help drive people around and help people on a day to day basis, what keeps me from doing so is my anxiety.
I’ve been trying to get to my goals but I have a fear of everything that comes my way!
I don’t like facing the reality of situations that seem very real.
What scares the **** outta me about driving is the fact that you are in a metal machine car that could kill you or somebody else at any second, you have people’s lives in danger and you can’t be thinking about other things you have to pay full attention to the vehicle. I’m not up for that.
It’s too scary for me.
This phobia is ruining my life, and my relationship. I don’t know what to do!
Nobody has the same problem as mine! I was driving for 15 years with no problems, no accident, suddenly i found myself in this fear of having blackouts while driving. It’s silly to say that but for 3 years now i’ve been driving but with high anxiety.
I too have the same symptoms. I feel as though I am going to black out. This happens while at a stoplight. Lynn
My husband was hit by a speeding teenager running a red light. He now is beyond terrified to drive. I cant drive because of my sight so we are now stuck at home and can only go short distances by public transport. He cant work as he was a professional driver.
It’s weird because one person shouldn’t have so much control, but I hate driving and am terrified of it because my first husband, who was controlling and abusive, had bad road rage. To the point he followed someone with a shotgun for 3 hours with our kids in the truck. I only drive for a minute down the road if I have to.
I have been diabetic for 5 years and never had issues driving. I am 41 now. I had a bad experience behind the wheel, hard to explain, but I felt really scared and frozen. My body felt like I was going to tremble all over. I thought I wouldn’t make it home due to this horrible feeling. I don’t know what caused this, and I was so relieved to get out of the car. I am so scared to get behind the wheel again.
I can be in a car driving around town, no problem, but when it’s traveling, and it’s at high speeds, I get so scared that we will crash.
I know this is going to sound crazy. But there have been times that I would rather die than be put behind that wheel. I’ve been free of driving since high school. A friend died in a bad car accident before her prom, and I remember seeing her in the coffin with her dress that I believed was her prom dress. The body was slanted almost sideways because her skull took a lot of the impact when they hit the tree. It was so people couldn’t see how bad it was. I never got my license after that. I got married to a man who drove me everywhere, but I paid a price for it. He was extremely controlling and, while trying to teach me to drive, screamed at me to the point I’d get a panic attack and give up. Years later, I got divorced, and I was so afraid I didn’t know how I was going to get around with no license, car, and four children. My mother rented me a house she bought that was conveniently located by a bus stop. I was okay with transportation. I got to work by bus, and I was taking college courses because I worked in the college. I created a sweet system for how I did groceries. I took one of those traveling bags where you pulled the handle out, and it had wheels. I brought it up on the bus filled with freezer packs, and by the time I got home, my stuff was still cold, even in the hottest summers. I made it work. I’m not saying you should live like this by no means, but if you spend your life attacking yourself and letting people make you feel bad about something that you’re struggling with or any form of so-called inadequacies, you might as well roll over and die. I chose to survive. In the meantime, I met a man who helped me get my license. I have learned to push myself to drive at least to the closest markets. Before I met him, I was in a car accident. I got hit as a pedestrian walking across a street to catch a bus. After that, I developed a fear of cars. I don’t like driving, I don’t like being the passenger, I won’t do highways. Again, I make small trips, and I’m proud of my very small accomplishments, just the mere fact that I managed to get a driver’s license after all that. I don’t focus on the fact that I don’t drive much. I focus on the fact that at least I can get some basic stuff done. If there is something I don’t appreciate about people, it’s having to defend or validate my anxiety and fear of driving when I say sorry, I can’t do highways, or I can’t drive that far out because my anxiety kicks in. There are always people who will try to push you out of your comfort zone, and I think it’s great to promote growth. However, know when to respect a person’s boundaries. If they feel adequate, don’t make them feel less than that because you believe they should be where you are in life. I say this with driving and anything in general.