This is probably the most embarrassing confession I have made publicly but, I am 28 years old and still do not have my driver’s license.

There are multiple reasons why I have put driving off, the main reason being my crippling anxiety of being in a vehicle. I mentioned in a previous post, I believe it was when I felt like an adult, where I mentioned how I was nervous the first time my boyfriend and I went on a road trip to visit his family. The main reason for this fear is due to past negative experiences when I was a child. One family member who drove us around a lot had extremely bad road rage. They would yell, cuss, flip people off, even occasionally yell out racist remarks to any and all who “inconvenienced” them in any way. There was one particular situation where they cut somebody off and the guy in the other truck got out and straight up pulled a knife out and started walking towards us. What did my family member do? Egg him on, calling him names etc. All while my sister and I (who were both in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL mind you) were in the backseat and another family member was in the passenger’s seat, trying to calm everyone down. Chaos and fear are the top two emotions I have associated with driving now.

Living within city limits, of a very popular and growing metropolitan suburb does not help the situation either. It feels like every time my husband and I go anywhere; we almost get into some sort of fender bender due to people’s lack of accountability and respect for the road. If my husband did not have the reflexes and wherewithal, we would have been killed multiple times due to people running red lights or cutting us off and brake checking us. It has gotten to the point where we refuse to go anywhere on the weekends or evenings unless it is an emergency. We get our shopping and errands done in the morning and if we cannot fit it in today, it is now tomorrow’s problem. Driving in the city is like putting your life in the hands of irresponsible drivers and letting Jesus literally take the wheel. Literally today just coming back from church, which is only 5 miles up the road, we almost got rear-ended by the same vehicle twice, due to the car ahead of us being slow and stopping all of a sudden.

I personally hate the idea that just because you have a license, automatically means you know how to drive. It leads to this ego which leads to reckless driving. I have known people who drove regularly without a license for years and never been in any sort of accident versus somebody who just got their license and soon thereafter, totaled their vehicle. Obviously, I do not recommend no having a license, just due to the legal ramifications, however one thing driving class and the actual test CANNOT teach you is common sense and respect.