Afraid of Driving [View all]

I am an extremely cautious individual. I had five family members die over the course of about eight years so I do everything in my power to stay safe and healthy: I eat healthy and work out and am a very defensive driver. I try to not drive more than 5mph over the speed limit and always keep a buffer between me and the car ahead of me. Despite all that last Thursday I was driving on the freeway, the car to my right tried to merge into me so I swerved left but lost control of my vehicle and spun out into the median at 65mph. I was extremely fortunate to walk away with no serious injuries but my car was totaled. The driver who tried to merge into me never stopped and I didn't have collision coverage so my car was a total loss. It was just a crappy 2008 Honda Fit so that wasn't a terrible thing but the bigger issue is I lost my independence. I already had extreme anxiety about driving worrying that this exact thing would happen before it even happened. Now IDK if I can get back on the freeway. I have some money saved up and decided to buy a new used car, under $5000, for groceries and driving around town but anything more than that scares the hell out of me. Had things gone slightly different I easily could have been crippled, died and possibly taken other people with me.

Seatbelts save lives btw. Always wear a seatbelt.