Thank you all for the support and words of motivation and encouragement on my last post. I posted here the other day to share a mini success story I had. I’d had a lot of doubt in myself and my navigation skills, which had caused a mental block to form, so I hadn’t tried to drive anywhere I wasn’t already familiar with.

I’m very glad to say that I went out somewhere else today with the sat nav. I was nervous again at the thought, but the positivity from my last post helped me to remember that many people have been in my position before. I went to visit a friend today and eventually got to their house (after getting lost and being rerouted by the sat nav). It felt great to be able to go and visit them in person like that. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I hadn’t tried to work through my mental block.

Thank you to everyone who told me to keep pushing. Your words have really helped me.

For anyone in my position, look up where you want to go on google maps beforehand. You can go over the roundabouts in satellite view to see which lane to be in ahead of time so you don’t struggle if it is crowded. Seeing where you’re going helps with making landmarks to spot once you’re driving, too. Then when you’re in the car, put the satnav on so you don’t have to worry about directions if there is a diversion, or you go the wrong way. The wrong way is just the long way!!

Additional note: There was a very not nice comment accusing me of being a fraud for not reporting my ADHD to DVLA apparently to ‘be cheap’. They scrolled down my post history to find out anything they could use to target.

I just want to clarify here that it only needs to be reported if it has an effect on your driving safety. There are conditions where you HAVE to tell DVLA if you have them, but ADHD is a conditional one, and that is because it affects everyone differently. Please trust doctors and ADIs and people themselves to understand how such a condition affects someone rather than making generalised assumptions. This can be damaging to certain communities. And ADHD is underdiagnosed currently, many people will only find out they have it after driving for 20 something years because of how diverse it can be. In many cases it is genetic - since getting diagnosed my parents have realised they also have many symptoms of it but didn’t even realise they did, because the symptoms can vary so much. I didn’t even know I had ADHD until after I’d passed my test.

Because of the above, I’d argue that it’s important for absolutely everyone on the road to evaluate their safety and fitness to drive. Of course people should check their fitness to drive everytime anyway (some days I’ve refused to drive if I’ve felt too tired), but what I’m trying to say is that people should also monitor long term patterns.

I didn’t want to have to talk about this, but I don’t want the misconception that ADHD automatically makes someone a bad driver to exist; driving is a useful way for people to go to work and have access to the world, especially for many people with ADHD who benefit from not having to struggle with organising public transport plans, or who could get overwhelmed in buses for example. So many people with medical conditions benefit from driving. We have disabled spaces available for a reason - many people in wheelchairs could be grounded or stuck somewhere for ages due to inaccessibility of public transport. It’s wrong to généralise any medical condition, especially when it can have harmful impacts and put people off learning a skill that could help improve their quality of life drastically.

I’ve linked the official page below, and i hope this post helps someone. If you think your condition affects your driving (like if you have impulsivity due to ADHD while driving) I firmly believe you should tell the DVLA (and you also legally should). But if it doesn’t then you don’t have to (unless it’s required in which case definitely tell them). A good way to find out is to ask a driving instructor to check your driving standards, or to speak to a GP about how safe you’d be. There are tests that can be done if unsure. However, many people with ADHD suffer with things such as organisation, productivity, time management, hyperfocus on certain hobbies, rabbit holes when watching or reading something etc, which don’t affect driving. People are responsible for keeping track of their symptoms and how they affect them and their driving. Let’s please not stereotype such a large group of people

https://www.gov.uk/adhd-and-driving

Part 2 TLDR: there are different types of ADHD, and a massive range of symptoms. You only need to report it if you have a symptom that affects your ability to drive safely, and you can check with professionals if unsure. Impulsivity in driving decision making and poor emotional regulation leading to anger while driving are two examples of symptoms counting as risks. Adults with ADHD are more likely to speed or drive intoxicated than non ADHD counterparts. This helps to explain the higher number of crashes within (but not limited to) ADHD groups. If you notice any symptom causing a risk then it’s your duty to make the relevant people aware of it.

And let’s also not forget you can have ADHD traits while not having enough of them or not having them intensely enough to actually be diagnosed. This is another reason why people should keep track of any factor that could affect their ability to drive safely. No one will ever be perfect

Happy driving everyone :)