Driving is not easy unless you enjoy it

Being able to have easy access to a ride is very important. Being mobile is very important. Anywhere there’s a metro station is perfect everywhere in the world, access to local transport is not always easy. In England, if you live anywhere outside London you’d have no underground system.

There might be buses that take you from A to B but there’s likely to be a traipse to and from the bus stop and if a single bus ride doesn’t take you to your final destination, there may be an added traipse from one bus stop to another which could be a mile away. Imagine doing that in sleet, snow, rain, strong winds or extreme heat.

It’s not easy. And sometimes transport services run late, or are cancelled, because of these extreme weather conditions. And these conditions are likely to happen no matter where in the world you live. I mention the above because I’ve experienced them all.

But we do need to get from A to B. Therefore, the other alternative is to get your driving licence. But then you’d need a car if you can afford it and, if you can, there’s the problem with parking. Then you have to take into account where you’d park. How much you’d pay monthly for that parking space as well as what the monthly rental of the car would be.

But it’s exciting when you get your first ever driving licence. You think, now I can drive myself to work, for shopping, any errands I need to run and be independent. But as soon as a car arrives, fear kicks in and you think you can’t drive on your own. What if you hit someone or something? When I first got my licence in Dubai, the office gave me a rental. But that car sat in the office car park for at least 2 weeks before I had the nerve to get behind the wheel. Despite having the car, I still came and went by cab. My colleagues thought it was amusing but in seriousness suggested that, during the day, I take the car out and drive it around the Freezone in which we worked.

So every day, a couple of times a day for a week, I would do that. Then one day a friend sat next to me so that I could drive the car home. Again it sat in the home car park for several days. Then my assistant suggested that he’d come in his car and I would drive behind him to the office. He did that for a few days until I got the courage to do it on my own.

But even then, for a while, I’d be very nervous about having to drive. Of course, pretty soon, all that went away. But I always kept to the speed limit, checked my mirrors, signalled, everything I’d learnt. However, I soon discovered that, from the way they drove, some drivers seemed to think that what was taught to them by driving schools was just a suggestion! Speeding, overtaking, cutting in at the wrong time and never signalling seem to be a habit.

According to one research carried out in the UK, a lot of women have an overwhelming fear of driving and the results indicate that they are scared of other cars and how they might drive. But in some countries speeding isn’t the only problem on the roads. Certain seasons do bring their own problems. For example, Christmas is a time when driving in the evening and at weekends is especially problematic because so many are drinking and driving. Then there is the Daylight Saving Time which means that many drivers are not only groggy from waking up an hour early but also irritated at having to do so. Then, of course there’s the weather. Snow, sleet and ice on the roads can cause tyres to skid or slip which means difficulty in controlling the vehicle.

Therefore, I don’t think it’s only women who should feel nervous about driving. I think it’s anyone who has a bit of common sense. I think it might make you a better driver.