Lyft and uber. Also, Your friends will most likely want to help you.its not like you’re shooting not to drive. I know it’s really hard to get over the guilt though.

Lyft, uber have been great, relationship wise: I told my now wife on our very first date about my vision, I cant drive now nor will I ever be able to again. She was fine with it, if she wasn't we would not have had another date, some can handle it some cannot, that's NOT on you don't feel guilty b/c you cant drive a car for reasons beyond your control :)

I use Lyft and public transportation. Lyft really helped me stay social after I went blind and was just getting into ONM and learning how to use trains and buses again.

I met my partner online and she is fully sighted. We both love hockey, and 2 years into our relationship we became season ticket holders for our team, then she learned how to drive, got a license, and we leased a car just to drive to and from the games since we live 50 miles from the rink. It is situational and anecdotal, but it is perfectly possible to have a relationship where only one person does all the driving. It doesn't bother her at all and it makes shopping and getting around a little more convenient, plus helps us save money on trips. If you are in an area with good public transportation and have access to ridesharing in lieu of having a partner who can drive, you are already set for getting around independently.

I am in the USA and Uber is my go-to way to go places. It makes me very choosy and intentional about what I do because it gets spendy. For medical appts and such, I mostly ask a friend.

You’re local transportation service may provide discounted rates. Where I live visually impaired people who schedule their rides days in advanced can schedule a ride for $1.50 and an additional $1.50 for a return trip.

I’m in California and I am pretty sure that the service is provided by the county I live in and other counties have different policies.

As far as your friends go... I’m not visually impaired but if a friend of mine where to lose vision to the point where he couldn’t drive, I would gladly pick him up before social events. Good friends support each other and I personally couldn’t have fun with friends knowing my bros at home because of his visual impairment.

As for the relationship question - my best friend & now husband is blind and has never been able to drive, whereas I have been driving since I legally could. I guess not *everyone* must feel this way but I've always been perfectly happy with being the sole driver in the relationship and it works fairly well for us. Conflicting schedules can be a pain if they ever come up, but for the most part I really do not mind driving us both around! I think the right person will be more than willing to accommodate, especially given you've got a very good reason for not driving.

I'm legally blind and live in the States. I rely on public transportation and Uber. I carpool in the mornings to work with my mother in law and my sister-in-law works 10 minutes from me and so often times she'll come get me after work but if not. I take the train. By wife can drive I can't. Sometimes it is a strain on her because she is our primary mode of transportation. But she's a good strong woman, and she knows what she signed up for. It also makes it easier because her sister is legally blind and that's how we met. So she grew up with someone being legally blind so she knew the game.
I have a handful of friends I see regularly, and they all have no problem coming to get me if need be. All of them understand I can't drive anymore, and if they want to see me and I can't get there on my own, I need a little bit of help. There are times where I don't ask, because like you I feel badd. But true friends don't care. I always offer to buy drinks or if stopping for a quick bite all offer to get theirs. Or in the morning I will buy coffee. So it doesn't all come for free, I do try to show my appreciation in some way shape or form.

I recommend Lyft to most people in bigger cities because drivers seem to be more chill about or black friends of mine (!!!) than Uber drivers are.

But if it's just a frustration about not getting around generally, I've been retrofitting my Jeep with sensors so my blind friends can go off-roading with me. I'm in the process of making it accessible to a buddy with mobile issues so he doesn't need to use foot pedals either.

The only problem I haven't figured out is how to get either of them _in_ the truck because ones in a wheelchair and the other is a tad overweight and the Jeep is about 4.5 feet off the ground.

The SOB is armoured for the zombie apocalypse, so what's a crip or blink gonna do for it? Next time you're in the states, lemme know when you wanna go F stuff up. 😈

Well, it took 17 years, but I had a kid. Now said kid drives me places in exchange for me covering their vehicle expenses (which is a lot of money when you're a teenager who can only find part-time, low-paying work at best). It's great, but if you go with this plan, you really do have to be in it for the long haul and there will be more up-front costs than you might expect...

Seriously, though, I live in a rural area with no public transit, so friends/family, and the occasional taxi (no Uber or Lyft here). In my teens, it was mostly my dad. By college, I was getting rides from friends most of the time, and then my husband (and yes, now my kid).

Sometimes it's hard not to feel guilty/frustrated, but friends and family take care of each other - that's just what you do for the people you care about. If they didn't want to do it, they wouldn't offer, and they know I'll do anything I can for them.

I live in a rural area with zero public transit. I am married though, so my wife drives, but it is still very depressing to have zero independence in traveling. I’m putting my house up for sale and moving to a community that is walkable and has public transit available. It will increase my quality of life immensely.

Most states in Aus let you ride public transport for free with a vision pass. Melbourne and Sydney both have pretty good public transport, it takes longer than a direct route but doesn't cost so it evens out.

I actually wouldn't recommend uber/Lyft. I've had quite a few really unhelpful drivers.

Friends are usually happy to help out as long as you are appreciative and at least offer to top their tank from time to time. Romantic partners are also usually open to helping out. The key is to make sure you're adding value in other areas.

I live near downtown, in the city. Plenty of city buses. Also, uber and lyft are great. There are also free doctor’s appointment transportation with your insurance, usually.

Its not your fault you can't drive. Your friends or s/o should be able to understand that. You have no reason to feel guilty for asking for a ride from somebody.
If you really don't for whatever reason want though, or nobody's available, you could always take uber or taxis or there's things like subway or busses, but I'm not sure what the transit options are like in your area. If its close you could always walk too, no harm in that. But I wouldn't feel guilty about asking for rides, you can't really control that and its not your fault you can't drive.

This question will have different answers depending on if you are in a place with good transit or not. I've never had a license due to poor vision, and grew up in a suburb (almost no transit whatsoever, and everything is 2-3 miles away so not super walkable) so I've always relied on friends for rides. I like to think it was never a burden, though I'm sure it may have been at times, but they were (are) my friends, and I was there for them in other ways, where I could help out. It wasn't a "you help me, I help you" system, nobody kept track, we were just there for each other, as friends should be.

If the meet up is a party, maybe get a 6 pack of your friends favorite beer so they can drink some (bonus points if you like it too!). I did this recently when my buddy (who lives 20 min away by car) picked me up to hang out at his house, and dropped me off later that night. He likes cider so I got one we both like, had 3, left the others at his place. If it's a bar, buy your friend a drink as thanks (in my experience they'll probably return the favor anyway :) )

If your friends are nearby, maybe walking to one house and all take a cab to the destination? Benefits everyone since you won't pay for or have to find parking, and you can all split the fare.

I don't have a good public transit system in my city so whenever I am in a city that does have a good system (especially subway or light rail) I will use that as much as possible because I find it enjoyable! After I got married my wife has done all the driving, the only trade-off is that means she always gets to choose the playlist haha.

Lyft and public transportation.

I'm applying to a paratransit service soon.

As you've said you live in Australia, have you checked out public transport options as it is readily available in most cities.

Uber. Lots of uber.

There are sighted people who can't drive for various reasons, or just simply don't want to. Ask yourself how they'd do it in that situation? Odds are good you have the same options--public transit, cabs, Lyft/Uber, learn where you're going and walk. These services weren't created for us, we just find them more useful than most.

I take lift or Uber, or use the bus and my 2 feet. Taxi cabs are an option, too I guess, if you have the time to wait for them. Some of us also use paratransit services. If you don’t have these options available, blindness would be much more difficult.

I think bus passes are free for the legally blind with a doctors note. I think.

I would say 80% of the time I use the bus service my town has, and the other 20% I either get rides for family or from taxis/Uber. I am unemployed currently so my system might change once my job situation does or once I move away from my mom's home but this system has worked for me for like ten years.

You find a way to get over it. The alternative is you don’t go out and stay miserable

do you live in a city that has public transportation? Most of them also have disability transit if you cannot take public transportation because of your disabilities. I use that service to get around when someone cannot take me somewhere. But, Iive at the edge of a city.

i take buses most places.

Throw your friends some gas money or buy them a lunch. It's not that hard.