On most people almost never make such drives. This has been pretty well researched. And those that do most of the time stop and make 15min breaks at least.
So the whole issue is that on very, very long drive you might lost 15min. That not the end of the world.
"On average, Americans drive 29.2 miles per day, making two trips with an average total duration of 46 minutes."[1]
For how many of those 46 minutes do you think they are enjoying control and adrenaline? I would guess approximately zero, and once you tell them that they can spend that time instead surfing the internet, or eating breakfast, or videochatting with their family, they will.
One thing to add here is that huge nonstop marathon drives are generally unsafe - most all people can’t maintain alertness for that long. I have done the 7-hour he’ll drive in the past, but I probably would have been better off had I been forced to stop for ten or twenty minutes every two hours or so.
Bloody hell, how much non-stop driving are you doing? If you're driving a solid 12 hours a day, that is only three 18-minute breaks, one of which is your lunch break.
The reason people will say that sounds unreasonable is the fact that the vast majority of people will probably be discomforted more by having to drive almost 1000 km with only one stop compared to having to stop two or three times to take bathroom breaks or eat. Not to even mention the fact that it is not safe for you or others to drive that long just one break.
11 hours of active driving and dealing with traffic, then gotta catch up on energy after the drive, which means crashing out for the night, so you are really down for 24 hours.
17 hours of napping and relaxing, don't have to deal with parking at your destination, and can hit the ground running.
I see it as basically Malthusian: people will keep driving until it is so unpleasant that they don't want to do it any more. The tipping point for most people is around 45 minutes. Here's a book with a footnote that mentions that the same 45-minute rule applies worldwide and though out history: http://books.google.com/books?id=uuqIA-ce1CoC&pg=PA408&lpg=P...
Indeed. I have never driven more than 4-5 hours at a time.
I find driving very taxing for me. I tend to be very focused on the road and drive like everyone and everything is trying to kill me. For this reason I don't use driving aids either not even standard cruise control.
166 hours of driving can mean 8 hrs of driving for 20 days. This is very different than 8 hrs of sitting in front of a computer. I get tired driving 2 hrs every day back and forth from work. Not to mention that that hours can be way more in an urban area as most rides are short distances and traffic is very tight
As someone else said. It's interesting that the negative responses to this are all incredibly extreme. Someone who likes to drive 1000 miles per day with a 10 minute stop in total. Someone who drives through the Siberian winter. The vast, vast, vast, majority of the population, even the rural population, isn't doing this.
If your commute is a twenty minute race on an empty Autobahn, most people wouldn't mind, and some people might even enjoy it.
The more of a slog it become is stop-and-go traffic, the more people will have your (and my) sentiment that driving to work sucks.
You are right, that for individuals 5 minutes more or less is not making much of a difference in their choices---most of the time. People have thresholds where it gets too annoying, so they stop completely if they can at all (like you suggest).
Average over lots of people, those discrete thresholds look much smoother.
If you're driving long distance, you should be stopping for a break every hour or two just to stretch your body and keep mentally alert. These stops are not quite the right rhythm, but they are not a bad idea either.
Agree if you are just concerned about travel time but there's also the opportunity to get work done, sleep, or watch a movie on a plane. I generally avoid driving these days just because I find myself increasingly dreading the level of concentration and focus required to drive safely for more than two or three hours at a stretch.
Long trips means spending a lot of time boringly driving on the highway with clear weather. I do not care for help in the more difficult first 15 min or last 15 min. I care about having help during the many hours in between.
Outside of few crazy people no normal people drive 5-6h at a time. If you can get out on the highway, plug in and spend 20min doing basic necessities you are find.
So the whole issue is that on very, very long drive you might lost 15min. That not the end of the world.
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