*sighs*

[coffee_lifeform]

I've decided driving is Very Hard. Thought I was doing alright when I got up to third gear, but then I came far too close to crashing on a crossroads, panicked and had to be very firmly talked through what was going on. I knew the panic was going to be a big issue - it's all fine when it's going well, but the second I think it's going wrong I

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[nesf]

It's not hard per se, it's a matter of muscle memory. Just practice and it'll all seem like second nature. We all found it weird and unsettling when we first got behind a wheel and personally I despaired of ever being able to coordinate between the steering wheel, gear stick and clutch simultaneously but it really does become rather easy with practice.

Some individual parts of driving can be tough but driving on a road itself isn't really.

[nesf]

Addendum:

The closest thing I can think of that we both have mastered is typing. Initially on your first encounter with a keyboard it's utterly foreign. The way the keys are laid out makes no sense and you spend more time finding keys than you do thinking of what to type. But after time, and practice, you just know where all the keys are instinctively, even if you haven't learned to type formally. At that point you just think of what to say and your fingers do the rest instinctively.

Driving is really similar. After enough practice your mind is concerned with "high level" thinking about relative position to other cars and obstacles, the direction you want to go in and so on and the rest of your body takes care of all the mechanical parts of driving (switching gears and what not) without you having to think about it.

roundabouts were my nemesis

[urbankat]

I tried to learn when I was 17 and the instructor made me cry. I didn't have another lesson till I was 22. A nice and patient instructor really helps - someone who will let you spend an hour in low gears in a carpark cos the roads are too scary, and then another few lessons on really quiet streets and so on till the driving part makes sense before adding new variables like roundabout (my nemesis) and other cars. I has 20 lessons with my lovely instructor and passed first time. I'm still a nervous driver and avoid it as much as possible, but it does open doors to you.
Good luck.