People with phobias feel such great distress when they encounter the thing they fear that they go out of their way to avoid such an encounter. People with phobias often know that their fears are irrational, but feel completely unable to control their fears. Sometimes a phobia has only a minimal impact on a sufferer's life. For example, Janet Acra has a paralyzing fear of spiders (arachnophobia). However, as long as she avoids going into woodsy or grassy areas, she is generally able to avoid seeing them. Some phobias however, can prevent sufferers from participating in normal, everyday activities. these kinds of phobias can have a devastating impact on the sufferer's life. For example, after being in a car accident, George Ramirez developed ochlophobia, a fear of riding in vehicles. After that, the only way George could get frome one place to another was to walk. And, since his college was 20 miles (32 kilometers)away-too far to walk-george dropped out.