Feeling nervous about driving is common, and it usually eases with the right kind of practice: short, planned drives on roads you're comfortable with, building up a little at a time, with a calm person beside you. You don't have to force yourself onto the motorway on day one.
Here are the approaches we use with nervous learners at Easy L.
1. Name what worries you
"I'm nervous about driving" is hard to work on. "I'm nervous about merging" or "I panic when someone's behind me" is something you can practise. Write down the two or three situations that worry you most and share them with your supervisor or instructor.
2. Start small and stay there for a while
Begin in a quiet street or an empty car park outside busy hours. Practise moving off, stopping smoothly and turning until they feel boring. Boring is good. It means the basics are becoming automatic, which frees your attention for everything else.
3. Plan the route before you go
Uncertainty feeds nerves. Before each drive, agree on the route, where you'll turn and where you can pull over. As you gain confidence, add one new challenge per drive, like a roundabout or a busier road, rather than several at once.
4. Drive little and often
Three 30-minute drives in a week usually do more for confidence than one long drive. Short, regular sessions keep skills fresh and stop anxiety building up between drives.
5. Use your breathing
Before you start the car, take a few slow breaths, in through your nose and out slowly through your mouth. At red lights, check your shoulders and grip. Loose hands and relaxed shoulders make for smoother steering.
6. Remember it's fine to be the careful driver
Drivers behind you can wait. Taking an extra second to check a gap, driving at the speed limit rather than over it, or going around the block again rather than rushing a turn are all signs of a safe driver, not a bad one.
7. Choose who sits beside you
A tense supervisor makes for a tense learner. If practising with family ends in arguments, it's worth adding some lessons with a professional. Many women find they relax faster with a female instructor, which is why we run Easy L as a women-only driving school.
8. Prepare early for test day
Test day nerves are easier to manage when nothing is left to chance. Our test day checklist covers what to bring and how to settle in before you start.
When to get help
If driving anxiety is affecting your daily life, or comes from a crash or other frightening experience, it can help to talk to your GP as well. Steady, well-planned lessons work well alongside that support.
Lessons at your pace
Easy L's female instructors have more than 20 years' experience teaching in automatic cars, including learners who are nervous and licence holders who want a refresher. We come to you across southside Brisbane and Logan, weekdays and weekends. Call 0433 190 838 for a chat about where you're at.
