The American way of expressing distances by drive time - what does that include?

  • foggy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    86
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Context.

    “was on the road for 10 hours” includes stops.

    “It’s a straight 10 hour drive to Boston” does not include stops.

  • XbSuper@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    57
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • DogMuffins@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      1 year ago

      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”.

  • Eladarling@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    50
    ·
    1 year ago

    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

    • deejay4am@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Correct, when directly replacing estimated time instead of distance, no stops is customary.

      I have no idea how many stops you need or how long they’ll be. That’s on you.

  • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

  • hitmyspot@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      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

  • Happyhermit87@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • Starb3an@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      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.

        • Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Not who you asked, but toward the end of a long drive, absolutely. White line fever becomes a huge risk for me, personally, after 5-6 hours.

        • Starb3an@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          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.

  • dan1101@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    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.

    • Galluf@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      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.

      • rooster_butt@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        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.

        • TheOhNoNotAgain@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          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.

      • dan1101@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        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.

  • Donebrach@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    1 year ago

    It usually doesn’t include breaks but it’s also never expected to be used as anything other than an approximation.

  • ThirdWorldOrder@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    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.

    • DeepChill@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      “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.

      • bstix@feddit.dk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        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.

        • jiji@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          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.

  • iNeedScissors67@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    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.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@midwest.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    Both breaks and driving speed included. I mean “how long it will take me to drive” and it’s usually based on however long it took me last time I drove it.

    For example, to visit my childhood home from where I live now is a ten-anna-half hour drive if my father does it, and a nine hour drive if my brother does it.