Experiencing a car accident is a traumatic experience that can upend your life in mere seconds. Many people live with the mental scars of their accident, which can arise as vehophobia, the intense and irrational fear of driving.
According to Talkspace, 1.35 million people are killed in serious accidents on the roads every year, and it’s these types of statistics that can make getting back behind the wheel impossible. Living with vehophobia can cause serious issues in America’s car-centric culture, but is the condition curable?
In this guide, we’ll explain the condition, describe its symptoms, and discuss your legal options if you experienced this phobia after another driver's negligence.
Key Takeaways
Vehophobia is the fear of driving and may arise due to a traumatic event, such as a car accident.
Developing vehophobia is a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and can manifest itself in both physical and mental symptoms that can disrupt your daily life entirely.
Curing vehophobia takes the form of prescription drugs, therapy, support groups, and joining defensive driving classes.
If your vehophobia developed as a result of an accident that wasn’t your fault, you have the right to sue the at-fault driver for damages.
Always hire a personal injury attorney to build your case and maximize your compensation to ensure a fair settlement.
What is Vehophobia, and How Common Is It?
Vehophobia is the fear of driving. It occurs as a response to a traumatic event you experienced. The most common cause of this phobia is surviving a serious car accident. It’s a type of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the fear of getting back behind the wheel can be debilitating.
Like all phobias, vehophobia can occur to varying degrees. For example, some people may only experience it when taking certain roads or specific road types. Your accident may have occurred on the freeway, leading to this phobia, but you might have no trouble driving on other roads. On the other hand, some people may experience extreme anxiety just from riding in a vehicle.
What all sufferers of vehophobia have in common is that it’s a condition that disrupts your life. However, there are treatments available for vehophobia that can enable you to overcome your anxiety about driving and reclaim your life.
So, how common is vehophobia?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), around 5% of Americans have vehophobia. However, the actual number is likely higher because of underreporting and many Americans simply not seeking help in the first place.
It’s an example of the PTSD that’s remarkably common among car accident victims. A National Institutes of Health study reveals that more than one in five road traffic accident survivors are diagnosed with some form of PTSD.
What’s the Difference Between Anxiety and Phobia?
Anxiety and phobia share similar characteristics. According to the McLean Hospital, they’re not the same. Anxiety is a generalized disorder, whereas phobia is a sub-set of anxiety and focuses on a specific thing, such as driving, heights, or spiders.
The Zebra reveals that 66% of Americans experience general driving anxiety. Plus, 55% said they experienced anxiety while performing basic driving maneuvers. However, that doesn’t mean two-thirds of Americans have vehophobia.
The differences are subtle, but both driving anxiety and driving phobia can hold you back from living the life you want.
What are the Symptoms of Vehophobia?
Phobia symptoms may manifest in several ways and depend on how severe your vehophobia is. Sweating and shaking are the two most common symptoms experienced by vehophobia patients. Other symptoms may include racing and uncontrollable thoughts.
Vehophobia can be split into physical and mental symptoms. Firstly, here’s a comprehensive list of physical symptoms:
Chest pain
Sweating
Shaking
Shortness of breath
Elevated heart rate
Dizziness
Tingling
Numbness
Hot flashes
Chills
Mental symptoms may also accompany the physical symptoms. Many people report feeling disconnected from their bodies while driving, with uncontrollable thoughts plaguing their minds. Some of the most common thoughts include:
Getting involved in a serious car accident.
Finding themselves trapped in a vehicle.
Getting lost and being unable to find their way.
Losing control of their vehicle.
Dying behind the wheel.
Not everyone will experience the same symptoms. Even mild vehophobia can prevent you from living your life to the fullest through panic attacks. The good news is that vehophobia can be treated with the support of a mental health professional.
Can You Get PTSD from a Car Accident?
Experiencing PTSD from a car accident is incredibly common. It’s a natural response to being involved in a traumatic accident. You may experience PTSD regardless of the seriousness of your accident or whether you were injured or not.
Most studies report that anywhere from one in five to one in four survivors experience PTSD, but accurate numbers are hard to come by. According to the National Institutes of Health, reports of PTSD incidence range from 8% to 46%. Like vehophobia, PTSD is often underreported, and thousands of sufferers refuse to seek treatment.
PTSD symptoms may appear immediately after a condition, but others may not experience them for months, or even years, until after their accident. Typically, symptoms are split into four categories:
Intrusive Memories – The PTSD forces you to relive the traumatic event. You may have trouble sleeping because you keep dreaming about everything that happened during your accident.
Avoidance – Many PTSD sufferers prefer to avoid the incident entirely. For example, this may be a refusal to get behind the wheel or even ride in a vehicle as a passenger.
Mood and Thought Changes – Accident victims often begin to think negatively about themselves and the world around them. This can result in many PTSD patients struggling to maintain relationships or maintain interest in the things they loved in the past.
Physical and Emotional Reactions – PTSD patients may also change how they approach the world. They’re often easily frightened, experience difficulty concentrating, and often engage in self-destructive behaviors, which may lead to addiction.
Symptoms can undulate in intensity over time. In some cases, PTSD symptoms disappear in a few weeks or months with the support of a dedicated treatment program. On the other hand, others live with their symptoms for the rest of their lives.
Is PTSD the Same as Vehophobia?
Vehophobia is a type of PTSD. Fear of driving after an accident is one of the results of PTSD. It falls into the avoidance category, with accident survivors refusing to drive or even get into another vehicle because of what happened to them.
Depending on the severity of your vehophobia, you might experience symptoms from all four PTSD categories, including intrusive memories, avoidance, mood changes, and physical/emotional reactions.
What are the Causes of Vehophobia?
Driving-related accidents most commonly cause Vehophobia. The sufferer is usually the driver involved in the accident, but you might also have been a passenger. In some cases, pedestrians and cyclists in the accident may develop the same fear even if they weren’t in a vehicle at the time.
It may also surprise you to learn that you don’t need to have been in a car accident to develop the condition. Some examples of non-accident-related causes include:
Seeing a car accident.
Being in a vehicle with reckless drivers.
Living with family and friends who experienced driving anxiety.
Operating a vehicle in dangerous conditions, such as bad weather.
Having a strict or abusive driving instructor.
Seeing an animal being hit by a vehicle.
Reading news stories about bad accidents.
Watching videos of car accidents.
Regardless of why your vehophobia appeared, all phobias are treatable under the guidance of a mental health professional.
Is Vehophobia Curable?
Like all phobias, vehophobia is curable. Many people don’t need treatment for phobias and choose to avoid the object entirely, such as someone who fears snakes. However, since cars are essential to many people’s lives, avoidance is rarely an option.
Working with a mental health therapist is critical to building a treatment program tailored to you. After all, no single treatment is guaranteed to work for everyone. Many patients utilize a combination of treatments for the best results.
How Quickly Can Vehophobia Be Cured?
Treating a phobia isn’t a quick process for most people. It can take weeks or months to cure vehophobia, and further treatment may be required if your phobia returns in later years. Everyone’s journey differs, so it’s important not to pin your vehophobia treatment plan to a strict timeline.
According to SingleCare, 19 million Americans have at least one phobia. Each one has a catastrophic effect on both physical and mental health. Unfortunately, Harvard Health reveals that about 80% of new phobias in adults become chronic.
Speak to a mental health professional about your treatment plan and get their expert opinion on what a treatment timeline could look like.
Treatment Options for Post-Accident Vehophobia
Treatment options are available for post-accident vehophobia, with varying degrees of success. Depending on the severity of your vehophobia, a mental health professional may favor one treatment path over another. For example, you may engage in talk therapy, take prescription drugs, or connect with support groups.
Let’s discuss the various treatment options you might explore for curing your post-accident vehophobia.
Therapy Sessions
Therapy sessions are among the most common treatment options for treating mental health problems like phobias. Here’s a list of some different types of therapy a professional might recommend:
Talk Therapy – Talk therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, involves talking about your fears and experiences. Your therapist, then, empowers you to work through those negative feelings. According to HelpGuide.org, there’s a 75% success rate for this type of therapy.
Exposure Therapy – Exposure therapy means gradually exposing yourself to what you fear. In this case, your therapist will reintroduce you to driving to help break the fear. Traumatic experience-related versions of this therapy may even include virtual reality exposure therapy as an alternative to the traditional approach.
Hypnotherapy – Utilizing hypnotherapy aims to condition someone out of the fear response they get when confronting something that scares them. You’ll work with a licensed hypnotherapist to challenge the thought process and “rewire” your mind when dealing with driving.
No two patients will have the same success rate from every type of therapy. Sometimes, it takes attempting multiple types of therapy to find the one that works for you.
Support Groups
Joining a support group for vehophobia connects you with like-minded people who are going through the same thoughts and feelings. Connecting with others harnesses the power of shared experiences and strength in numbers.
Support groups can take the form of in-person sessions or online video calls to help you work through your anxiety.
Prescription Drugs
People with severe vehophobia may receive prescription medication. Prescription drugs are often given in the short term when a person’s symptoms are at their most severe. However, it’s vital to remember that medication cannot be used as a crutch to deal with your phobia.
Your doctor will encourage you to take up therapy in the meantime to help you cope with your symptoms and put your phobia in the rearview mirror.
Defensive Driving Courses
A side effect of vehophobia is a complete lack of confidence in getting behind the wheel and driving again. Taking a defensive driving class enables you to take back your power and get back on the road again.
Learning defensive driving strategies is one of the best coping mechanisms because you get to work with a driving expert and face your fears head-on. Once you’ve progressed enough with your therapy, this could be your next step forward.
Can I Sue the Driver Who Caused My Vehophobia?
Obtaining damages after a car accident applies to both tangible and intangible losses, including mental health conditions. If the other driver caused your vehophobia, you have the right to sue for your losses.
If you live in an at-fault like Texas or Illinois, your ability to claim damages will depend on who was at fault. Each state operates under modified comparative negligence laws. In other words, if you were considered more than 50% responsible for an accident, you typically won’t be able to claim monetary compensation.
However, if you were the victim of a negligent or reckless driver, you can hold the other driver legally responsible for your fear of driving. Examples of losses you could reclaim as a direct result of your vehophobia include:
Therapy bills
Loss of enjoyment of life
Lost wages
Lost earnings potential
Remember, many people with vehophobia may find themselves unable to travel to work or may even have to quit their jobs because they’re required to spend a substantial portion of their days driving.
Working with a personal injury lawyer to file your claim will enable you to explore your tangible and intangible losses to come to a fair settlement.
How Much Money Can You Get for Vehophobia from a Car Accident?
Car accident compensation for vehophobia depends on the extent of your phobia and the impact it has on your life. Every case is unique, and other factors may be at play, such as physical injuries.
Typically, compensation for vehophobia consists of the following:
Actual medical bills
Lost wages
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress damages
You should be eligible to receive payment for your therapy costs and any other treatments you had to invest in to help overcome your vehophobia. How much this is worth depends on any number of factors, such as:
What’s your likelihood of making a full recovery from your vehophobia?
How has your vehophobia impacted your financial situation, such as if you’ve incurred expensive medical bills or had to take a long-term leave of absence from work?
How is the pain of living with vehophobia impacting your life and the lives of those around you?
Living with a mental health condition can change everything about your life, and that should be reflected in your eventual settlement. That’s why working with a personal injury lawyer is critical to build your case and ensure no stone gets left unturned in your pursuit of justice.
Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer to Handle Your Lawsuit
Hiring an Austin car accident law firm should be viewed as non-negotiable if you want to maximize your compensation and ensure that you hold the at-fault driver to account.
Some of the benefits of hiring a legal professional to file your personal injury lawsuit include:
Expertise in Law – Lawyers depend on their deep understanding of the legal field to ensure you have the highest possible chance of winning your case.
Evidence Gathering – Proving that a mental health condition arose from an accident is challenging, which is why your lawyer will exploit their network to build the strongest possible evidence-based argument for why the other driver was at fault.
Case Valuation – Your attorney will provide an in-depth evaluation of how much your case could be worth, enabling you to manage expectations.
Negotiation Skills – Auto insurance firms want nothing more than to pay as little as possible. Let a legal professional take charge of negotiations and overcome the tricks insurers like to play to get you to accept less than what your case is worth.
Court Representation – If your case goes to court, your attorney will represent you, guide you through what you can expect, and manage all the processes and paperwork.
Risk-Free – Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you don't pay the legal fees if you don’t win your case.
We understand that dealing with vehophobia is traumatic enough, but you shouldn’t have to worry about legal proceedings on top of that. By far, the biggest benefit of hiring a car accident attorney is giving you the time and space to breathe while overcoming your condition.
Vehophobia FAQs
What is the difference between vehophobia and amaxophobia?
Vehophobia is the fear of driving, whereas amaxophobia is the fear of being in any vehicle at all. Many people with vehophobia have no issue riding in a vehicle as a passenger, whereas someone with amaxophobia won’t step into a vehicle at all. It’s not uncommon for car accident survivors to suffer from both phobias.
Where can you get help for vehophobia?
Vehophobia patients require mental health services to receive proper treatment. Your family doctor can provide a referral, and most health insurance policies will also include provisions for mental health treatments.
With telemedicine options available, you don’t even need to attend therapy sessions or become a part of a support group in person.
What is the easiest car to drive for a nervous driver after a motor vehicle accident?
Nervous drivers may choose a car that’s easier to drive to ease them back into being behind the wheel. Automatic cars can be easier to learn and less stressful than manual ones. Likewise, electric cars come with instant-access torque and simple one-speed gearboxes.
Smaller, more compact cars often have cozy interiors and can be easier to handle. Examples of compact cars that may be options for nervous drivers include the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic.
