Being Aspie and a driver presents an interesting set of challenges.
On the negative side, my tendency to hyperfocus means that it's all too easy for me to pay attention to one dimension while ignoring others. For example, I might be paying attention to the fact that there is a parking space, but ignore the left hand side of the truck I drive and scrape that side of the truck against something. I have several "racing stripes" on the side as a result, and the mirror on the right hand side suffered from having been driven into a concrete pillar in a parking garage.
Also, because I don't react in social situations like other people do, people can misread my intentions and get mad at me. Sometimes, I have hyperfocused on one thing and then end up doing something at the last minute that angers someone else and if they are semi-polite, they only end up flipping the bird at me. I have a hard time when I know someone wants to merge onto the highway not just maintaining my speed and let them work around me. I want to slow down and let them in. If I slow down in front of a semi, that does not make the driver very happy with me!
Finally, I dread more difficult driving operations such as making a left-hand turn without a traffic light when traffic might be heavy. In fact, I admire people who have the confidence to do this, and I study their techniques when they are driving me. But I go out of my way to avoid this kind of situation.
Onto the advantages!
One of my "interests" (read: something most people find arcane) is maps and highways. For example, did you know that the interstate highway signs of each state have a slightly different font or outside border shape? The state highways have a different shape for their numbers. Kentucky's is a cirle. Ohio's is the shape of Ohio. Pennsylvania's is the shape of a keystone. National highways that are not interstates are marked by a shield. Isn't that fascinating?
My town has a limited access highway (you can't call it an "interstate" because it is only in one state--it must be an "intrastate" highway) that goes all the way around it. It's 55 miles in length and if you want, I can tell you all the exits.
Another thing about my driving is that I don't really like changing lanes, so I have memorized where I need to be in terms of lanes for the routes I take often. That means I will get into the correct lane miles and miles before I have to. If I'm in the correct lane and the person ahead of me slows down, I will tend to slow down with that vehicle and unless they are REALLY slow, I won't go around them. Also this means that I am a terrible backseat driver. People have to tell me that they don't want all the instruction I am prepared to give them.
Outside of my tendency to hyperfocus, I am a really careful driver. I have not been in an accident that was my fault in 30 years.
So, if you are an NT and the person driving near you seems a little "different," it might be me! Cut me some slack and I promise to be really careful around you!
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I think the different signs for different states are pretty neat. Did you know too that the "Interstate" road that runs around your town is in lots of other towns? All Major cities have an "Interstate" that takes it's name from the Interstate that goes thru it. Example The I-40 runs thru/by my city and it has an extra 4 added to it to make it the I-440. What confuses me about roads like this is when I ask a local person for direction's they usually give me the state, county, or city's name for the road and not the federal name. There are many roads that have several names and lots of times the name of the road told to me is not the name that is posted in a map book or on a sign.
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