My fear of driving appeared overnight: the story of a renaissance

Like many people of my generation, I learnt to drive at the age of 18. By the time I was 19, I had my driving licence in my pocket and driving the car quickly became an enjoyable exercise, and then a real source of recreation.

The feeling of freedom you get at the wheel is extraordinary, the feeling of being able to move around without constraint, of getting away from it all, is a luxury I knew the price of. And then everything changed, unexpectedly. I had been on medication for a short time and had a reaction to it while driving alone on a motorway in the south of France. The discomfort, combined with the panic attack that followed, triggered a veritable motorway phobia in me. I tried to overcome it, first on my own, then with the help of therapists.

Nothing helped. As soon as my car turned onto a motorway, the uneasiness returned, totally paralysing me.

I saw my world shrink like a sheet of paper. For eight years, I adopted a strategy of avoidance, so as not to find myself in situations that generated stress... Fear of being afraid... At forty, I found myself a prisoner of my anxieties, overwhelmed by a feeling of failure and powerlessness. It was a real suffering.

It was by chance that I met Rodolphe Koentges, while searching on the internet for someone who could finally help me overcome this problem. After an initial safe driving course, I already felt much more independent. In just four hours, I learned how to sit properly in my car, handle the steering wheel and, above all, how to look at things. I decided to continue this ‘re-education’ by taking driving lessons with Rodolphe.

After 5 driving sessions, I felt completely cured, I'd regained my self-confidence and, above all, my freedom of movement and the pleasure of driving on the motorway. Rodolphe combines kindness, efficiency, professionalism, patience and psychology. I can't thank him enough for what he has done for me.