Whats it like to drive again after a ban?

Convicted Driver Insurance

C J 1980

Established Member
Evening,

I'm still a good way from getting my licence back having served 9 months into a 21 month ban (strictly speaking it's 28 months but I did my reduction course).

I've been fortunate to speak to a lady at random today who got her licence back in September after being banned for 15 months. She told me the whole ordeal has really knocked her confidence and although she is back behind the wheel she has moments when she suffers from anxiety and she still uses public transport and walks alot, preferring to leave her car at home. She stated she gets into a panic everytime she drives passed a police vehicle - even though she's stone cold sober.

I too have been having thoughts about when my time comes and I too will probably suffer the same issues. I walked passed the scene of a minor road collision today which was no doubt caused by the poor road conditions and both drivers appeared to be on their way to work and there was no suggestion that either had commited any driving offences. However, I thought to myself that I could very well have a collision like that this time next year (my licence gets reinstated roughly around the 13th December 2020). I then thought how unlucky that would be and I'm actually glad that responsibility for driving has been taken away and it's one less thing to worry about. I even see parking attendants putting tickets on windscreens and it gives me comfort that I'm out of the ball game on that score too!!!

I'm curious to know how people overcome this and also does your driving habits creep back after a while or do you become far more disciplined with things like concentration and speed.

Feel free to share you thoughts on this.

Regards

CJ
 
C J 1980 said:
Evening,

I'm still a good way from getting my licence back having served 9 months into a 21 month ban (strictly speaking it's 28 months but I did my reduction course).

I've been fortunate to speak to a lady at random today who got her licence back in September after being banned for 15 months. She told me the whole ordeal has really knocked her confidence and although she is back behind the wheel she has moments when she suffers from anxiety and she still uses public transport and walks alot, preferring to leave her car at home. She stated she gets into a panic everytime she drives passed a police vehicle - even though she's stone cold sober.

I too have been having thoughts about when my time comes and I too will probably suffer the same issues. I walked passed the scene of a minor road collision today which was no doubt caused by the poor road conditions and both drivers appeared to be on their way to work and there was no suggestion that either had commited any driving offences. However, I thought to myself that I could very well have a collision like that this time next year (my licence gets reinstated roughly around the 13th December 2020). I then thought how unlucky that would be and I'm actually glad that responsibility for driving has been taken away and it's one less thing to worry about. I even see parking attendants putting tickets on windscreens and it gives me comfort that I'm out of the ball game on that score too!!!

I'm curious to know how people overcome this and also does your driving habits creep back after a while or do you become far more disciplined with things like concentration and speed.

Feel free to share you thoughts on this.

Regards

CJ
Click to expand...

Hi CJ,

Having had my license back for over a year now, here’s a few things that I’ve found with the whole after-experience.

As I’ve detailed in previous posts, I was originally banned for 42 months / 3 and a half years depending on how you want to look at it and wasn’t offered the DDRS course as it was my second offence, and the Magistrates obviously assumed that I hadn’t learned from the first. Once I had been through the whole process of going to court, successfully putting forward my case and going through the long, arduous process of the HRO medical, and ultimately having my license returned, I thought to myself for a very long time that I’ve just spent a third of the total time that I could drive without a license through my own stupidity, and that really hit home.

Flash forward to now, a year and a bit down the line and about 30,000 miles further forward; fair enough, some of my old driving habits have returned such as getting inexplicably angry at middle-lane drivers, ditherers and people who shouldn’t have passed their test in the first place as well as not indicating when pulling in on the motorway (I could go on and on!), the one thing that I have picked up is whenever I have a few drinks at home on a Friday or Saturday, I will either make sure that someone else is driving me home who is completely sober or make sure I have a taxi booked in advance and stick that that time.

I’ve recently been to my work Christmas party, and I was quite shocked at how many people had driven to the bar where it was happening with the intention of having a few drinks and then driving home - at one point, I had to have a serious chat with a colleague (who was extremely worse for wear) about how it was better to spend £50-60 on a taxi and have a sore head and empty wallet in the morning than to wake up with a sore head, empty wallet in the police station on suspicion of driving whilst over the limit. Now that it is silly season and local police forces are launching their annual drink and drug driving campaigns, it really hammers home that it just simply isn’t worth spending months or years without a license for the sake of another pint.

MM
 
It’s bloody great and I tell you I won’t even have a pint and drive now! Iv been driving back since September and tbh after a year it seemed like I had never been off the road.

How fast 9 month has went due to a rehabilitation course i had my time reduced. I would have been driving a week if not.

Your day will come soon enough!
 
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