United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

This has been a pretty sensitive topic for me because I see all my friends driving and not me but i could use some advice....
I last took my drivers test (i'm almost 21, i started learning to drive at like 19) a year ago. the driving instructor failed me because i failed to make hand signals out the window (my fiancee's car had a busted tail light...lol) when the woman realized i was ROBPI and i couldn't because then i would be letting go of the steering wheel she said "oh, well, then you need electrical turn signals" and failed me anyway. Ever since I've been to scared to face the driving test again. i am currently working on getting a knob to help my turning with the car. is it that people are afraid of how we drive with one hand (my shoulders locked so i can only drive one handed) I'm lucky to have a wonderful fiancee who drives me to work and college, but i would like to take some of the burden off him because he works as well. I guess my question is how did some of you get driving and was it hard...?

It sucks that people make assumptions when they know nothing about our limitations! And I completely understand what you're going through.. I went through a very similar experience the first time I went for my licence - the main problem being that as I'm ROBPI and we drive on the left hand side of the road in Australia, every time I change gears I have to let go of the steering wheel. Pretty sure I freaked the driving instructor out .

All I can suggest is keep at it - my second test around I explained my limitations and got a driving instructor who was really considerate. And I seriously believe that my limitations actually make me a better driver than most of my friends because I am extra conscious of the safety of driving, especially driving one handed!

Good Luck

Lacey Palmer, 27yo ROBPI

Believe in yourself! Confidence is half the battle. I know that we scare them as passengers. I freak out my friends if I dont tell them that I drive different.
I am also ROBPI and drive with just my left hand. Driving with your left knee helps a lot its like an extra hand once you get good at it and your seat is in the right position.

Just trust yourself and go try it again! You can totally do it! Even if it takes a couple tries. I took my test twice. Be upfront with the tester though, they dont like suprises!

Good luck!
Amy 21 years old ROBPI from MN

I am robpi and failed my first test because he told me I was handicapped! I was shocked and angry and no one ever used that word to me before. I promptly told him off and that there was nothing wrong with me... LOL...
No wonder I failed!

I took my second test in a different town and made sure to keep both hands on the wheel. I drive with my left hand but can hold on to the wheel at the bottom with my right hand. He asked about it and I told him that was the way the driving instructor taught me.

I've had my license since I am about 18 but have been driving since I was about 15. The only accidents I've been in has been when two handed people were driving...LOL... not funny but true.

You go take that test over and over until they pass you.
Good luck... don't let anyone intimidate you.

Kath robpi/adult 68

Yes, it's alot about the right person testing you in the driving part of the test. Kep on trying even if you have to go to another town/city nearby. You will make it if you kep trying.
I learned with a driving school in ancient times, 1960. My intructor went to the driving test with me and they knew I learned good and wouldn't be there if I wasn't good. Years later after lapsing years of not driving I paid a driving schol for 2 lesons then paid for them to come to the driving test with me in a new State I lived in. No hassle and worth the money too. I've never let my license lapse again.

Carolyn J
LOBPI/69-adult aged out!

I can drive with my BPI arm for the most part but turning is difficult, so I mostly drive with my right arm (good arm). The driving inspector was a coworker of a guy who owed my dad a favor.. so i kind of got my license anyway... and i got into a minor accident too... lol, stupid person behind me passed me on the highway and clipped my mirror!! it was nerveracking- i though i was gonna fail... and I didn't see it being my fault!!
~Mel

My mother was the one who signed all the permission slips from school, but she was not a driver. She said that since she was not a driver, she could not judge whether or not I had the ability to drive, so she would not sign the permission slip. I had to go to my father. My mother came to America when she was seven, but my father didn't get here until he was 18. He didn't have the kind of education that we have here. He was smart, but he saw his smartness as just "common sense." Since I've grown up, I've been amazed at how few people have "common sense.";-) Anyway, he was embarrassed about his handwriting, so he didn't want to sign the permission slip. He said that I should talk to the driver's ed teacher and see if the teacher thought that I could drive. If so, he would sign the slip. I realized that I didn't know who taught driver's ed, so I asked my counselor. She said that it was a leased department, meaning that a driver's school - she didn't know which one - would send over whoever was available to teach the class. Since I had no teacher to ask, my father had his "out."

"Back in the day" the age of majority was 21. When I was 21, I didn't need anyone else's signature, so I learned how to drive. I passed the test on my first try. I have always had to have power steering (or a spinner knob, which I distrust) and an automatic transmission. Now I also have to wear my glasses, but I was doing that anyway. I bought my own car when I was 22, with money that I had saved while working. I've been involved in some accidents, but most of them were not my fault. Twice I was just a passenger in a car that was rear-ended. On the whole, I'm a more careful driver than most people.

Joanie, LOBPI, 59 years

Im LTBPI as of recently. I am now attempting to drive but finding it so difficult and painful to change gear (righ hand drive car, in UK) so i am now looking for an automatic as my current job involves alot of driving as a Community Nurse.
I just hope it gets easier, and with the right analgesics the pain will subdue some what.

Also, have people found their diagnosis affects their insurance?

Claire, 23yrs


Message was edited by: peanut

Thank everyone for the support and suggestions! I think my main issue is the fear of another fail. the first time i took my test i had been driving for a very short time (and i knew i wasn't ready) and i failed. but the instructor said to practice and come back that next Tuesday (which i was too devastated to lol). the second time i got the woman who failed me for not using my arm to signal. Its been, well, a little over a year now. and i drive with my fiance, I can drive highway and everything else (though parallel parking isn't my forte!)but i'm falling out of practice because I'm just scared. i have a meeting with my voc rehab consular monday. then i'll get the spinner knob and maybe it'll be the incentive to do it again. I'm hoping three times is the charm...

I have been using a spinner knob for about a year. I just bought a new car and Toyota paid for the knob and to have it installed. It has made a big difference for me. Turning is soooo much easier and smoother. I wish you the best on taking your test again. I know that you can do it!!!!!