The American way of expressing distances by drive time - what does that include?
Not if you’re my dad.
gotta make time! (in case there’s confusion, this doesn’t mean make time for breaks, but to get there as quickly as possible)
The Tiny Toons episode where Hampton and Plucky go to what was basically Disney Land is a perfect summary of what road trips with my family were like. lol
I never realized how different people take this. For me it’s a definite no. A 10 hour drive is how long it takes without breaks, because it makes no sense to have it included, since everyone’s breaks would vary in length.
Exactly this.
“How long does it take to get to x?”
“Four hours if you don’t stop” or … “it’s a four hour drive”.
Context.
“was on the road for 10 hours” includes stops.
“It’s a straight 10 hour drive to Boston” does not include stops.
I usually say something like “10 hours, plus stops,” to avoid confusion.
This is the way.
If I’m telling someone else how long a drive will be, I tell them the drive time without stops. If I’m telling someone how long a drive is/was for me personally, I’ll include time for stops and note how many times I stopped along the way, for context
Generally you stop every 2-4 hours to stretch your legs, go to the bathroom, get fuel, etc.
So if Google Maps says a drive takes 10 hours, I would factor at least another 1.5 hours for stops and a meal somewhere along the way. So 11.5 hours or so if you don’t stay stopped too long. 0 miles per hour brings the average down quickly.
Nah, if Google maps says it takes 10 hours, then it takes 10 hours with stops unless you’re in the bottom 10% of traffic (such as if you’re a truck towing a trailer).
If you’re like most people going 5 to 10 mph over, then you’ll beat Google maps time by about 15 minutes per 2 hours of drive time without stopping.
Google maps accounts for speeding so it learns and adjusts on the fly. I find it to be pretty accurate with my driving patterns which are definitely nowhere close to tenth percentile.
I drove to the Swedish province Värmland (known for fostering quite a few rally drivers). During the drive to get there, I could see how the ETA ticked down a few minutes every hour. While driving in Värmland, it was the opposite. The ETA ticked up, even while speeding a little.
In my experience for long trips Google Maps doesn’t account for stops, especially if you’re stopping for sit-down meals or traveling with several people. In fairness Google would have no way to gauge that. More people = more delays usually. For a solo driver stopping only for fuel, bathroom, and a few snacks it should be accurate. But just one exit where the place you’re going turns out to be a few miles off the Interstate can easily cost you 30 minutes extra.
In general conversation, no. We wouldn’t say that Hoiston is X miles from Dallas, we’d just say about 4 hours. Same with distance between Fort Worth and Dallas, we use time to convey distance.
It makes things easier for planning purposes to use drive time. We even say “drivetime” because that’s how long it takes to drive to the destination, whether that’s down the street to the store or a city across the state. It’s just like when you put in a destination on a GPS, it shows how long it’ll take to drive there, nothing more.
As an Australian, not an American, we drive long distances too. We express in km/h and km, not mph and miles. Due to high risks of sleeping on long straight empty roads, rest breaks are taken seriously here. I’d consider a 10 hour drive as door to door including minimal breaks. It would be foolhardy to drive without breaks. However, if I was describing the distance without breaks, I’d say that. If I was taking longer breaks, I’d say it too, for clarity.
My in laws live near the border of the next state. It’s a 6 hour drive without stopping. I’d describe it as a 7 hour drive, door to door. We have done it in 9 hours with stops in playgrounds for the kids. If I was describing that I’d still describe it as a 7 hour drive that we took extra breaks, so it took 9.
Similar to your “door to door with minimal breaks” - as an American, a ten hour drive is the minimum it could take. Yes we should take breaks more seriously
For example, I say it’s a 14 hour drive to my brother’s house. That means I grab breakfast on my way out of town, stop for gas and fast food lunch (perhaps to go), stop for gas and fast food dinner, then get there 14 hours later. If you take more than minimal breaks, it’s up to you to do the math
The time is usually an estimate, or the best case scenario in my head. If I have to stop and add more time, I do. But 10 hours is probably what google maps told me it is. I drove straight 9 hours or so once, I think I stopped twice to use the bathroom/get a snack. Got there at 2am. It was rough, wouldn’t do it again.
I drove from Albuquerque NM to Tacoma WA in two days by myself. That one was pretty rough.
I generally go off of what the GPS says because time is a blur for me unless I take specific note.
Do you get Highway Hypnosis on such long drives?
For that particular drive I was on Adderall and smoking a lot of weed so hyper focused paranoia prevented that. However, when I was following tail lights at 70mph through the mountains in a downpour and the windshield wiper came off, the pucker factor was very high.
Depends on the person. If me and my mother are talking about going to and from the same location, I may say it is an 18 hour drive because I only stop for fuel and quick pee breaks. My mother would say its a 24-25 hour drive because she drives slower and takes longer/more frequent breaks
