The American way of expressing distances by drive time - what does that include?
I usually say something like “10 hours, plus stops,” to avoid confusion.
This is the way.
Context.
“was on the road for 10 hours” includes stops.
“It’s a straight 10 hour drive to Boston” does not include stops.
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
People are not usually counting that, but it’s not as if it’s a standard. Sometimes they mean how long the overall trip takes, other times, simply the distance divided by the average speed limit.
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?
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
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”.
It’s going to take all day either way with or without stops. You’ll have to eat either before, during or after the drive.
To me, anything more than 4 hours is a 1 day drive.
If someone said 10 hour drive, I’d assume that’s the time on the road without stops. The context being not about distance anymore, but about for long you’re going to sit in a car, to plan for breaks, hotels and splitting the drive.
Also flights. A two hour flight is from start to landing, even if the entire thing also includes two hours before checking in and half an hour to collect the luggage and finding a taxi out of there etc. The 2 hour is only for making the decision of when to eat and what to bring on board. Same thing with long drives.
“To me, anything more than 4 hours is a 1 day drive.”
Wow, where do you live that 4hrs is such a big deal? To be fair, I used to work with a guy that had to pack a lunch and plan his trip days in advance just to “go into town” which was maybe a 45min (75km) trip each way on a 4 lane divided freeway.
I just don’t like driving that much. If it’s more than 4 hours, I’d rather split it two and sleep in between, so I can also do other stuff on both days.
Same. I hate driving as well, I can’t imagine driving somewhere for 4 hours, doing something, then turning around and driving back another 4 hours the same day.
Just depends on the person saying it. Could just be what their GPS says or the person could have included stops. Best to ask them as there is no definitive answer to this.
The 7 hour drive I had last week included one stop for gas, but that’s it. We usually refer to the amount of time the gps says it will take.
You went approximately 100 miles in seven hours. Thank you for driving safely.
Hmm well it was 430 miles but yes I did drive safely.
12 parsecs
Driving at a leisurely 47 attoparsecs per nanocentury
It usually doesn’t include breaks but it’s also never expected to be used as anything other than an approximation.
Personally, that includes gas station stops, but not much beyond that.
To me, it includes breaks to refuel and use the restroom, and if it’s more than maybe 6 hours, will factor in the time to scarf down a fast-food meal. Also, any time this discussion involves “X hours” it’s undoubtedly being rounded and estimated, and it will involve a hundred different little variables like traffic, road construction, the driver’s tolerance for speeding a bit, etc. Also, don’t forget that it’s common, but not formal, so there’s no single way people are taught, and different contexts will require different levels of accuracy.
It’s crazy how big the variables can be as well. Both my ex and I have family in the Baltimore-Washington-Virginia area: for the same trip, she called it a 6.5 hour drive whereas I called it a 9 hour drive. We were both right, with the biggest variable being what traffic through or past NYC would be like depending on what time each of us liked to start driving
I always speak in drive time and i will note total time when applicable.
For example: drove my ex to DK. I drove like 9.5 hours overnight. Lol We probably stopped for an hour and a half or so total like ~11 hours.
Why are you taking your ex on long trips?
