Fear of Driving; A Sort of Social Anxiety?

[Stephie]

Forgive me if this isn't the correct forum, this is my first post.

I've always been afraid of driving. I'm not completely sure why. I've never been in anything other than a couple of fender benders, and no one close to me has died in a car accident.

I didn't get my drivers license until I was 22, and I confronted my anxiety by being an extremely safe driver. I follow all the rules, never text and drive, never drive under the influence, never speed, avoid driving in bad weather, wear my seatbelt, never gotten a ticket or even pulled over, etc. This helped a lot at first. I felt confident in my ability to drive safely.

I've been driving for over a year now and things have slowly built up again. It bothers me beyond explanation that I can do everything right, be courteous of other drivers, protect myself and my passengers, etc, but ONE idiot can do something stupid and dangerous and get away with it. Just the other day I avoided an accident by swerving around the person who ran a red light (she was on the phone). She put my life in danger, her passengers, and my passengers and she just drives away with zero consequences: unharmed only because I was paying attention and quick enough to drive defensively.

I'm constantly angry and anxious about driving. I'm really good at controlling my road rage while on the road: when I get home I workout or take a hot shower to destress, but I can still tell the phobia is building. A phobia of driving is even more difficult (in my opinion) because it is one of the top ten causes of death (in the USA anyway).

Does anyone have any advice? Success stories for overcoming anxiety over driving? Would therapy help? Anything at all? It would be greatly appreciated.

[JustAnotherMe]

There is one junction on the way to work that always freaks me out. It's too shallow and there is no time to prepare if something wants to come out of it. You know what I learnt? It sounds stupid but I can't control everything. We will always dodge each other on the slip road, there is plenty of room but it might be more uncomfortable than I would like but it's okay.
1. I would look into Buddhism and acceptance. I don't know the exact phrase but basically it helps you chill out. It's NOT about religion. Just accepting some shit is outside of your control.
2. I obsessed about the junction each time. I never thought about the dozens of times that I managed it. Concentrate on the positives. You are doing okay mate.

[MissUnderstood]

I also considered myself as one of the safest driver out there. But when my anxiety strikes I feel that my hands tends to shake involuntarily whenever I'm infront of the steering wheel. I'm more prone to accidents and sometimes I question my capacity to drive. That's why I think a driver should be more confident while on the road. What I do to boost my driving confidence is to focus on my destination and I practice mindfulness. I talk myself down and relaxed my grip on the wheel. I always remind myself that accidents can happen everywhere even inside my house, I could be dead just by standing under a coconut tree or under have a stroke on my working table.