‘I make my wife sit in backseat of our car but there’s a good reason’

A man has sparked debate online after revealing how he makes his wife travel in the back of the car on road journeys – but he claims he has a good reason for it.

He explained how he drove four hours to his mother-in-law’s house to see in the New Year with his wife’s side of the family, but says it ended up causing a bitter start to 2026.

On Reddit, he said: “My wife, 37, gets nervous about driving in traffic, so I always drive when we visit her family.

“She also tends to get car-sick on longer drives and needs to sit in the front seat to help ease it. She has tried taking Dramamine in the past, but she had an allergic reaction to it, so she doesn’t take it anymore.

“I love my wife with all my heart, but she is not good at sitting shotgun. She has huge reactions to any change in traffic.

“Grabbing the handle, putting her hand on the dash, gasping, telling me to watch out, etc. It’s not like I’m an aggressive or risky driver – I’ve never had a speeding ticket or been in an accident.”

Throughout the drive, his wife kept physically and verbally reacting to everything she saw on the road – even jumping up and down in her seat when things happened.

So, he came up with a solution, knowing she wouldn’t like it, but claiming it would keep them safer on the road.

He added: “It’s very distracting to have someone next to you doing that sort of thing while driving.

“I mentioned this to my wife numerous times during the drive, and she always deflected the blame onto me for the way I was driving.

“When we were getting ready to head home, I told my wife she needed to sit in the back and our 14-year-old son would sit up front with me. I told her it was either that or she drives us home.

“She got upset with me and started giving excuses about her car sickness. I told her to take some NyQuil or something else to help her sleep, but she refused and told me I was being a jerk.

“I told her she could drive then, and she refused that too. Eventually, she reluctantly got in the back seat with our 11-year-old daughter.

“The ride home was much easier traffic-wise, and my wife sat almost completely silent in the back seat the entire time, pouting.”

But when they arrived home, his wife criticised him for treating her this way, saying she felt ill during the entire drive but didn’t say anything.

He added: “She said she ‘didn’t want to make a big deal out of anything’. She told me I humiliated her by making her sit in the back and that I should have been more considerate of her feelings.”

Commenting on his post, one user said: “Her backseat driving is worsening any perceived danger by distracting you.

“This is a safety issue. You gave her multiple options. It might not be your wife’s fault that she has this level of anxiety, but it is her problem to manage.”

Another user added: “I’m medicated for generalised anxiety. When my daughter got her learner’s permit, we discovered I’m a terrible passenger.

“I talked to my doctor and increased my meds because my daughter needed me not half-panicked over nothing.”

A third user said: “She sounds like she has major issues and needs a professional. She was an actual danger with all her distractions.”