Driving license...horrible not to have it.

**adamski** · 05-11-19, 17:40

Hi,

I cant be the only one to have lost a driving license, on here.

my ban seemingly has no end, but how long did it take you to get used to it?

I have a bus pass, and half price rail travel, along with an electric bike, but I can only ride that on good physical and mental days, I don’t want to sat at a junction thinking ”where the funk am I, and how does this work!” Which can happen.

i am investing in a decent electric scooter, and have a good kick scooter for good days.

any suggestions will be super appreciated!

how did you move forwards?

**The Martian** · 05-11-19, 17:48

Originally Posted by adamski

Hi,

I cant be the only one to have lost a driving license, on here.

my ban seemingly has no end, but how long did it take you to get used to it?

I have a bus pass, and half price rail travel, along with an electric bike, but I can only ride that on good physical and mental days, I don’t want to sat at a junction thinking ”where the funk am I, and how does this work!” Which can happen.

i am investing in a decent electric scooter, and have a good kick scooter for good days.

any suggestions will be super appreciated!

how did you move forwards?

How would having your driving licence help? Surely if unfit to be on a bike you're not fit to drive either?

**mrlongbeard** · 05-11-19, 17:54

My MiL had to surrender hers due to cognitive decline.
Bloody weight off the mind I can tell you, they'll be hell to play when she realises, but so far 12 months on and she hasn't twigged.

**ogri** · 05-11-19, 18:09

Sold my car after too many near misses, bloody RA drugs :/
Back on two wheels until i cant use the throttle any more

**a_morti** · 05-11-19, 18:22

Originally Posted by The Martian

How would having your driving licence help? Surely if unfit to be on a bike you're not fit to drive either?

@adamski, sorry mate he's right.

Sat at the junction wondering how it works? You could just as well find yourself wondering which side of the road you're meant to be on, or forgetting which one is the brake.

Sounds like you've not been banned, but forced to do yourself and everyone else on the roads a favour.

**balbas** · 05-11-19, 18:26

Prob depends on where you live. In a good sized city - prob not a problem. Maybe even easier. In the sticks it'd be hell. I live in a decent sized town but work 30 miles away. I can get by without using a car/motorbike but it's a pita and I don't think I'd ever get used to it.

**saga_lout** · 05-11-19, 18:31

Ten years for me.

I was a field service engineer. The company I worked for persevered for a year with me travelling to sites by public transport and I learnt very quickly how to use public transport to navigate the wilds of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and occasionally beyond.

You need to plan your journeys, Traveline Southeast is good for journeys in the South and the Midlands (in spite of the name). You can get the app from the usual places.
The National Rail website is good for... erm... rail journeys.
The individual bus companies also have websites and/or apps that often give you live bus times and sometimes they show you where the buses are on a map which can save you waiting in the cold and/or rain for a bus that's 10 minutes late.

Losing your licence isn't the end of the world. You just have to adjust.

**Noggin** · 05-11-19, 18:32

I don't think he's saying he wants it back, but how to deal with not having it!

I know that I didn't deal well with not being able to drive and that was only a couple of months

Certain sure it depends where you live and based on my lack of dealing it with it, I'm not sure I have any useful advise!

**a_morti** · 05-11-19, 18:36

I've been a bus and bicycle rider for a while now. Doesn't bother me much, and although I'm half shopping for a bike at the moment, I'm not sure I'll actually get to work any quicker on it, which is kinda why I stopped using the last bike I had.

Figure out which bus routes get you where you most often need to go and how to ride them cheapest. Get better organized at ordering your supermarket shopping online.

What else did you regularly use your car for?

**1888** · 05-11-19, 18:41

Originally Posted by balbas

Prob depends on where you live. In a good sized city - prob not a problem. Maybe even easier. In the sticks it'd be hell. I live in a decent sized town but work 30 miles away. I can get by without using a car/motorbike but it's a pita and I don't think I'd ever get used to it.

Im in a small town and its far from hell. OK i have two vans and a car. I need a van for work and the wifes used the car fir hers but in general its not that big a town where you could walk from one side to the other in an hour or less. We almost never drive into Edinburgh now as we have a good train link. Had i been working in Edinburgh it may be different but the train station is in the city centre with an not bad bus service so i think i could cope

**adamski** · 05-11-19, 18:45

Originally Posted by a_morti

.

What else did you regularly use your car for?

i was a sales manager, I lived in it, at least 50k miles a year. Not a worry though cos they sacked me.

i live in the arsehole end of nowhere, so busses aren’t not super abundant! But I have difficulty speaking, so I won’t be rushing to a sales job.

**adamski** · 05-11-19, 18:51

Originally Posted by The Martian

How would having your driving licence help? Surely if unfit to be on a bike you're not fit to drive either?

I don’t want to drive, I have no wish to kill anyone.
I am quite upset that I cant cycle, physically and mentally, but at lest the option is there when I am good.

thankfully I am still aware when a day isn’t good, the worry is that it is quite possible that this may not always be the case.

i hope that I can recover enough to not be a liability for a good while longer.

**Gedge** · 05-11-19, 19:09

Originally Posted by adamski

I don’t want to drive, I have no wish to kill anyone.
I am quite upset that I cant cycle, physically and mentally, but at lest the option is there when I am good.

thankfully I am still aware when a day isn’t good, the worry is that it is quite possible that this may not always be the case.

i hope that I can recover enough to not be a liability for a good while longer.

Can you / do you claim disability benefits? If you can no longer drive then the transport element may be higher which you could then use for taxi / Private Hire to get you out and about. Look for a company with wheelchair accessible vehicles, even if you don’t use one, as the drivers ( should) be better trained in dealing with disabled customers. If you get a bus pass there might be a provision ( varies by council) that would allow you to use it for taxis.

It it must be difficult to adapt after so many years driving, but the trick is to try and plan when you need to go out and to base that around family or public transport .

**KungFooBob** · 05-11-19, 19:15

How much would you spend on car loans, insurance, tax and general maintenance.... that's now your monthly taxi budget!

The bonus is you can now have a nice drink of beer/wine everywhere you go without the worry of being over the limit.

**Bigyin** · 05-11-19, 20:10

Originally Posted by KungFooBob

The bonus is you can now have a nice drink of beer/wine everywhere you go without the worry of being over the limit.

My dad was diagnosed with glaucoma in his eyes so went from being a Driving Instructor to a bus wanker overnight having not been on a bus since he was a kid as far as i can remember ....... And he is tee total so doesnt even have a beer anywhere