stop being scared of driving

I passed my driving test in 1998. I haven’t driven since 2002. I don’t need to drive in London, I know, but it would be great to be able to hire a car when I go home so that I have the freedom to go to places. I feel sick about the idea of driving, what if I miss something and end up killing someone? It’s a completely irrational fear but I make up the most ridiculous excuses not to get behind the wheel of a car, forgetting my glasses or my trainers, drinking a bit too much the night before, etc. I have been really wanting to drive recently, and to save up for a car but it all seems a bit too real. Any advice?

I’m not so much scared of driving, as hate it. And a good many of the things I hate about it aren’t going to go away. Some of them are just bad luck, some of them are my own fault, and some of them are just a symptom of the way the world is going.
For example:
Bad luck – coming up behind a cyclist. Normally OK, but it always seems to happen to me on the bendy, twisty parts of the road.
My own fault – I can be a fairly hesitant driver. For example, I won’t overtake something unless I’m certain I’ve got enough room to do so. And I can’t see round corners.
Symptom of the world – the driver behind comes up very, very close, starts gesticulating and flashing, then overtakes both myself and the cyclist. On a corner I couldn’t see round, so how could he?