i am neurotic.

If I’m smoking a cigarette while driving, I look around when I’m in stopped traffic for any of my family members even if I know that they are all at work/school because they don’t know I smoke.

I’ve never been able to drive next to an 18-wheeler. It’s fine if I’m in front of or behind it, but if I’m beside it I panic and can’t calm down until I get away from it and get out of the car.

Whenever I’m a passenger in a car, I’ll look at the wind shield for a water mark or any spot and I’ll focus on it. Then I close one eye and try not to let the spot hit anything like a telephone wire, building, or anything solid. I’ll switch which eyes are closed or open to make the spot appear to “jump” across wires, and I’ll also move my head to change the angle I see it at to avoid it intercepting with any objects.

Every time I get into my car and shift from park into reverse I have to shift all the way down into drive then back up into reverse. Even though my car is an automatic, I have to simulate that dual shift motion from a manual or I feel like I’m not really doing anything.

I have never locked myself out of my car, but am paranoid that it will happen one day. I have to physically see my keys before i can shut the car door. Even if I know for a fact that I have just put them in my purse, I have to dig them out again before I can shut the door. I’ve found hooking them on the outside of my purse can prevent my having to dig for them.

Whenever I park my car, I lock the door with my remote key fob. But it does not make that reassuring honk that my old car made, so I end up hitting the lock button about 5 or 6 times more, just to make sure. Even if I hear the locks engage, I do it anyways.

when i am stopped at a red light and it turns green, i will not go unless the person next to me goes.

I am obsessed with those snowy clumps that gather behind tires in the winter. They drive me nuts. When I walk through parking lots, I have to stop and kick them off the cars. I’ve been yelled at more times than I can count by people that thought I was vandalizing their cars.

Whenever I get in a car to go somewhere and I’m not the driver, I always have to sit on the right side. It doesn’t matter if it’s up front or in the back, it just has to be on the right side. The middle is horribly uncomfortable and I can see myself in the rear view mirror on the left side and that freaks me out. If I’m with a group of friends, I always let them go in first just to get in on the right side inconspicuously. If I’m not on the right side of the car, I can’t be comfortable for the entire ride. However, this does not happen on buses or trains or anywhere else but a car, and I don’t know why.

when i am at a stoplight in my car, i must show some movement. i don’t want other drivers to think i’m a robot or a lifeless person.