Why does fear of driving happen and how can you overcome it? Learn about fear after an accident, motorway anxiety, panic at the wheel and a step-by-step plan.
You got your driving licence years ago, but you have hardly ever got behind the wheel. Or perhaps you drove comfortably for years, and then a small accident, a sudden panic attack or a frightening moment on the motorway changed everything. Now you may be taking a longer route to avoid bridges, staying at home during rush hour, never leaving the left-hand lane, or only able to drive when your partner is beside you. Fear of driving is a much more common experience than people think, and it can quietly restrict a person's independence, working life and daily routine. In this article we look at the different forms of anxiety behind the wheel, their causes, the mechanisms that keep the fear going, and a step-by-step plan for facing it that you can put into practice.
What Is Fear of Driving?
Fear of driving is intense anxiety about driving, or about driving in particular traffic conditions, that is out of proportion to the real risk and restricts the person's life. Being careful and cautious in traffic is of course healthy; a certain amount of unease makes us more attentive drivers. Fear becomes a problem when it leads the person to avoid driving altogether, to experience intense panic symptoms while driving, or to be able to drive only under very narrow conditions.
In psychology, this can be considered under different headings depending on the content of the fear: a situational type of specific phobia, avoidance accompanying panic disorder and agoraphobia, traumatic stress reactions developing after an accident, or obsessional worries. This distinction matters, because the points emphasised in therapy differ for each. For the general workings of phobias, you can look at our article on what a phobia is.
The Different Faces of Traffic Anxiety
Fear of having an accident
This is the most common form. The person is afraid of causing an accident through their own mistake or another driver's. A car braking suddenly, a lorry speeding past or a slippery road can trigger this fear.
Fear of having a panic attack at the wheel
The thought "If I have a panic attack on the motorway, I won't be able to pull over, I'll lose control" is at the centre of this fear. What is feared is less the traffic itself than the bodily symptoms that will be experienced in traffic. This picture can be closely linked to agoraphobia.
Fear of particular road conditions
Fears directed at particular situations such as bridges, tunnels, viaducts, motorways, changing lanes, overtaking, hill starts, parking in narrow streets or driving at night.
Fear of harming someone
Some people experience intense, repeated doubts that they may have hit a pedestrian. Going back along the same road again and again with the thought "Was that bump just now actually a person?", or checking the news to see whether there has been an accident, are examples of this picture. Thoughts like these can be related to obsessive compulsive disorder; for more detail, see our article on what OCD is.
Fear of being judged and criticised
Horn blasts, the impatience of the driver behind you, being watched while parking, or the criticism of a passenger beside you. In this fear, the social anxiety component is in the foreground.
What Causes Fear of Driving?
- An accident or near miss: An accident experienced by the person or someone close to them can be the beginning of the fear. If, after the accident, there are symptoms such as nightmares, sudden flashbacks, constant alertness and avoidance of the place of the accident, the situation should be assessed for traumatic stress. Our article on post-traumatic stress disorder can guide you on this.
- Lack of experience: Not driving for a long time after getting a licence prevents skills from consolidating. The less the person trusts themselves, the more they avoid; the more they avoid, the less they trust themselves.
- A history of panic attacks: Experiencing intense anxiety at the wheel once can lead to constant body-monitoring and anticipatory anxiety on later drives.
- A critical learning environment: Learning to drive from someone close who constantly scolds, is impatient or is critical can lay the ground for feeling "inadequate" behind the wheel.
- A general predisposition to anxiety: People with low tolerance of uncertainty and a high need for control may be more affected by the unpredictability of traffic.
- Media and social media: Dashcam crash videos constantly shared on social media can make traffic accidents seem far more likely and frequent in the mind than they really are.
The cycle that maintains the fear
Whatever the cause of the fear, what keeps it alive for a long time is usually avoidance and safety behaviours. Only taking familiar routes, never going on the motorway, staying in the left-hand lane all the time, always having someone with you, keeping the radio off, or gripping the steering wheel too tightly are examples of these behaviours. These behaviours bring relief in the short term, but they strengthen the person's belief that "If I hadn't done this, I would have had an accident" and prevent them from seeing their real competence.
Confidence behind the wheel is not built with the kilometres you avoid, but with the kilometres you drive step by step, again and again.
Traffic and Driving Anxiety in Turkey
In Turkey's big cities, traffic can be a genuinely demanding environment for someone prone to anxiety: dense and unpredictable flow, frequent use of the horn, cars changing lanes suddenly, and the chaos at bridge and motorway junctions. Feeling a degree of tension in these conditions is understandable. But if this tension keeps a person away from the wheel altogether, it is important to separate the difficulty of the environment from personal fear.
In our society there are many people who get a licence and then do not drive for years. Some live this as a choice; others feel quietly dependent: having to rely on someone else every time to take a child to school, take an elderly parent to hospital or run their own errands can damage self-confidence. In smaller cities, limited public transport increases this dependence.
Because of rising fuel and living costs in recent years, some families have moved to a single car or reduced their driving. This can make it even harder for people who have been away from the wheel for a long time to start again. On the other hand, being able to drive in an emergency, for example during a disaster or a health problem, gives many people an important sense of security.
A Step-by-Step Plan for Facing the Fear
The plan below is based on the principle of exposure. Safety always comes first: before starting the plan, make sure that your licence and driving skills are adequate. If you have not driven for a long time, taking a few refresher lessons can be a good start.
1. Define your fear
What are you most afraid will happen when you drive? Having an accident, having a panic attack, harming someone, being criticised? Write the answer in a single sentence. This sentence will be the prediction you test in the following steps.
2. Build your fear ladder
Order the situations from easiest to hardest and give each an anxiety score from 0 to 10. An example ordering:
- Sitting for five minutes in a parked car with the engine running (2)
- Driving slowly around an empty car park (3)
- A short drive around the neighbourhood on a quiet Sunday morning (4)
- Driving on the main road with someone you trust beside you (5)
- Driving alone on the main road (6)
- A short stretch of motorway at a quiet time (7)
- Crossing a bridge or going through a tunnel (8)
- Driving in the city in evening traffic (9)
3. Carry out planned trials
Start with a step where your anxiety score is around 3–4. Before the trial, write down the outcome you fear and how strongly you believe in it. If anxiety rises during the trial, do not stop immediately; as long as it is safe, carry on and watch how anxiety rises and falls like a wave. After the trial, note what actually happened.
4. Repeat and move forward
Repeat the same step several times until your anxiety clearly decreases. Three or four short drives a week are usually more effective than one long drive a month.
5. Reduce safety behaviours
Move the person beside you first to the back seat, and then to not coming at all. Instead of always taking the same route, try different routes. Turn the radio on at a low volume. Each step lets you see your real competence.
When anxiety rises at the wheel
- Slow down when it is safe, and if necessary pull over somewhere suitable. This is not an escape but part of safe driving; carry on once the anxiety has eased.
- Slow your breathing: Breathe in counting to four, breathe out counting to six.
- Ground your body: Notice how your hands grip the steering wheel and loosen your grip slightly; feel your back against the seat.
- Talk to yourself: "This is anxiety. It is uncomfortable but not dangerous. I am giving my attention to the road."
- Don't blame yourself: A hard drive is not a failure, it is a chance to learn.
How can the passenger beside you help?
For someone starting to drive again, the attitude of the person beside them is very important. If your partner, parent or a friend is accompanying you, you can ask them to:
- Speak in a calm tone of voice rather than warning you loudly while you drive, suddenly shouting "Watch out!" or pressing an imaginary brake with their foot.
- Talk about mistakes not while driving but after the car has stopped, and in a constructive way.
- Support you in continuing to drive as long as it is safe, instead of offering to take over the wheel.
- Notice and mention small improvements: "You were much more relaxed changing lanes today."
A critical or tense passenger can unknowingly reinforce the fear. For this reason it may be more helpful to choose a calm and patient person for the first trials, or if necessary to get this support from a professional driving instructor. Over time, the goal is to be able to drive alone without needing the passenger's support.
An important note: never drive when you are experiencing intense panic, or when you are sleep-deprived, under the influence of medication or have been drinking. Exposure work should always be done within safe driving conditions.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
You may consider talking to a specialist in the following situations:
- You have been avoiding driving completely for a long time and this restricts your life.
- After an accident you are experiencing nightmares, sudden flashbacks and a state of intense alertness.
- You often have panic attacks at the wheel.
- You have repeated doubts that you may have hit someone and you go back to check.
- Your anxiety goes beyond driving and spreads to other situations.
If you have symptoms such as dizziness, a feeling of fainting or problems with your vision, be sure to have a doctor assess whether there is a medical cause.
How Is Fear of Driving Approached in Therapy?
The first step in therapy is understanding which dimension of the fear is most intense. Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the most widely used approaches in this area, and it usually includes the following components:
- Assessment and formulation: The onset of the fear, its triggers, and avoidance and safety behaviours are mapped together.
- Cognitive work: Thoughts such as "If I have a panic attack on the motorway I'll crash" and "Everyone will honk at me and I'll be humiliated" are tested.
- Imaginal exposure: Before moving to real driving, difficult driving moments are vividly pictured in the mind in detail.
- In vivo exposure: The steps prepared in therapy are practised in real traffic, under safe conditions. If necessary, this can be combined with the support of a driving instructor.
- Trauma-focused work: If the fear began after an accident, work aimed at processing the memory of the accident is added to the process.
- Anxiety management skills: Skills such as breathing and grounding are taught not as escape but as support for being able to keep driving.
You can find information on work for anxiety and fears on the anxiety and panic page. Each person's process is unique; we would like you to know that support is possible whenever you feel ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is fear of driving after an accident normal?
Feeling uneasy for a while after an accident, tensing up when passing the place of the accident, or driving more cautiously are quite understandable reactions. In most people these reactions fade over time. However, if the fear does not lessen after weeks, or leads you to avoid driving altogether, professional support can be helpful.
Can you start driving years after getting a licence?
Yes, many people can start driving again after a long break. Taking a few refresher lessons, starting with short drives at quiet times on familiar roads, and increasing the level of difficulty gradually make this process easier.
What should I do if I have a panic attack on the motorway?
When it is safe, reduce your speed, switch on your hazard lights and pull over in a suitable area. Apply slow breathing and grounding techniques; remember that panic attacks usually peak and fade within minutes. If this experience keeps recurring, working with a specialist helps prevent the fear from spreading.
Is fear of driving the same as road rage?
No. In fear of driving, the foremost emotions are anxiety and fear; in road rage, it is intense anger and aggression towards other drivers. However, both can be triggered by heavy traffic stress, and in some people they occur together.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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