Furthest you've driven in a day? - Page 2

Dr Sardonicus · 2021-07-06, 12:47

When I was much younger, I made several solo drives of just about 1000 miles in about 20 hours.

I was also once on a drive from Colorado Springs to San Francisco with another person in a small pickup truck with a topper, so one of us could sleep while the other one drove. IIRC it took about 24 hours. The truck was a stick shift, a new experience for me. I was at the wheel we got to some town in Utah just as kids were going to school in the morning. There were plenty of police cars visible, with officers looking at traffic, apparently eager to enforce the school zone speed limit of five miles an hour! I gulped, worked the clutch, shifted to first gear, and hoped to God it would be enough to maintain a speed of five miles an hour. It was. Phew!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

Have done about 1385 km (860 miles) in a single 12 hour over night run (ending on this day of the year).

Holy-moly! That's averaging over 70 miles an hour!

PhilF · 2021-07-06, 13:33

How come I'm not seeing any Europeans post about trips from Copenhagen to Rome, or Lisbon to Warsaw?

I suspect that crossing over so many borders has something to do with it...

Viliam Furik · 2021-07-06, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilF

How come I'm not seeing any Europeans post about trips from Copenhagen to Rome, or Lisbon to Warsaw?

I suspect that crossing over so many borders has something to do with it...

Actually, under normal conditions, regular people can cross borders within the Schengen area (basically the entire European Union plus a bit) without checks. So both of the paths you mentioned, assuming the shortest path is taken, are doable without getting delayed in a border check.

richs · 2021-07-06, 13:44

Last month I drove by myself from Benicia, CA, to Scottsdale, AZ, on a Wednesday and then drove home on the following Monday. My nephew had his bachelor party there and I was definitely the oldest person attending. Distance was 787 miles each way, about 12 hours, with two fueling stops at Costco's in Bakersfield, CA, and LaQuinta, CA.

Uncwilly · 2021-07-06, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilF

How come I'm not seeing any Europeans post about trips from Copenhagen to Rome, or Lisbon to Warsaw?

Several factors:
Cost of fuel in Europe vs USA changes the valuation in favour of other modes of travel.
Europeans enjoy high speed rail options that Americanos don't.
Speed limits on roads tend to be lower in Europe than the USA's Interstate system (and the other major highways.) [Example: I have travelled the E-6 from Oslo to Bodø in Norway and back. I have done a similar distance in the USA. In USA it was much quicker.]
Europeans are not holiday time poor like most Americans.

kriesel · 2021-07-06, 17:02

You people are crazy. High speed motoring beyond ~10-12 hours a day is a bad bet, risking passengers and other motorists nearby also. https://www.cdl.com/cdl-faq/health-m...drive-in-a-day
As a teen, but years before drivers' education, I routinely spent 10-15 hours/day driving a farm tractor daily. Never got far, as the fields were at most 1/2 mile long, and speeds were low, typically up to 5 MPH then in field work. Fatigue, weather, highway traffic, and equipment condition were safety issues. The knowledge that if I fell asleep and fell off I WOULD be run over in a second (no AC, no cab, no shade, no safety belt, no roll bar, no fenders) was clearly an aid to staying focused. The margin of error when cultivating corn is ~3" laterally before one is doing more harm (root damage or complete uproot) than good (killing or smothering the weedy competition). It was quite a workout, as fuel was hand pumped from underground, 11 strokes per gallon, and there was no power steering on the tractor. Check-in that no serious harm had come to the tractor or its operator occurred 3 times a day by showing up on schedule to refuel it and me or park both for the night. With peak season work hours ~16 hours/day, sufficient sleep was not feasible. Fatigue is as impairing as legally drunk.
https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safe...tigued-driving
In the fields, risk to others was low. Occasionally it involved towing loads that weighed twice the tractor and obstructed visibility. Left turns from stopped on right gravel shoulder of a busy US highway, with traffic passing or oncoming up to 65MPH, required care and patience.

In closing, I'm glad we (posters here) all lived through such escapades. Not everyone does.
This reminds me of the high energy physicist's question, used to gauge a blend of risktaking and intelligence: "what's the most dangerous thing you've done without getting hurt?"

Edit: Parking lots: I once got T-boned in the driver door, by someone who had just pulled into a parking space and stopped. He then backed out into me as I drove past. There was no way for him to see my vehicle, since the rear window and mirrors of what he was driving were full of frost/ice. He was moving his girlfriend's car in the apartment complex parking lot. He had had his driver's license confiscated, after an on-road collision, that occurred less than 12 hours before.

Batalov · 2021-07-06, 17:35

Quote:

On average, more than 50,000 crashes occur in parking lots and parking garages annually, resulting in 500 or more deaths and more than 60,000 injuries. If the national roadway trend is any indication, parking lots may be even riskier this year.

People who drive in parking lots - that's the real crazies.

ATH · 2021-07-06, 18:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilF

How come I'm not seeing any Europeans post about trips from Copenhagen to Rome, or Lisbon to Warsaw?

I suspect that crossing over so many borders has something to do with it...

I regularly drive from Copenhagen to Stockholm (2-3 times a year). That is only ~640 km ~400 miles (7.5-8h including 1-2 breaks), but I feel that is plenty for me in a single drive, I'm not sure how and why people drive so long in one drive. I have maybe done 800-900km at most at once.
Usually I do not get enough sleep to drive even 400 miles, because I'm a night owl and have trouble sleeping early to get up early for travelling. One time I had only slept 2-3 hours but I wanted to get going that day anyway, so I drank 1.5 liters of energy drink during a 6-7h period, and I did not really feel very good when I arrived, but at least I did not fall asleep.

As a passenger in a bus as a kid I drove from Copenhagen to Italy (somewhere near San Marino on the east coast): 29 hours including 3 hour ferry ride. We had 2 drivers taking turns driving.

slandrum · 2021-07-06, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATH

I'm not sure how and why people drive so long in one drive.

I was in my 20's, I was stupid, and I was doing a favor for my girlfriend (which is guaranteed to throw common sense out the window).

tServo · 2021-07-06, 21:04

For comparative purposes:
There is an informal race called the CannonBall Run over public roads between a parking garage in NYC and a hotel in Los Angeles . During the height of the pandemic when the numbers of drivers ( and police ) had dwindled significantly, several drivers broke the record and then someone else would break it a short time later.
As of August 2020, the record for the 2800 miles ( 4500 km ) is 25 hours 39 minutes which is an average speed of 110 mph or 180 kph. The drivers reached a top speed of 175 mph.
Of course, the vehicles are VERY high performance vehicles with enormous gas tanks ( usually enough to avoid refueling ) with multiple drivers.
Amazing!

kriesel · 2021-07-07, 02:00

Or: 24 hours of Daytona; 2020, 2965 miles, ~123mph, 199kph average. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hou...and_since_1975)

2021-07-06, 17:02	#17
kriesel "TF79LL86GIMPS96gpu17" Mar 2017 US midwest 31·173 Posts	You people are crazy. High speed motoring beyond ~10-12 hours a day is a bad bet, risking passengers and other motorists nearby also. https://www.cdl.com/cdl-faq/health-m...drive-in-a-day As a teen, but years before drivers' education, I routinely spent 10-15 hours/day driving a farm tractor daily. Never got far, as the fields were at most 1/2 mile long, and speeds were low, typically up to 5 MPH then in field work. Fatigue, weather, highway traffic, and equipment condition were safety issues. The knowledge that if I fell asleep and fell off I WOULD be run over in a second (no AC, no cab, no shade, no safety belt, no roll bar, no fenders) was clearly an aid to staying focused. The margin of error when cultivating corn is ~3" laterally before one is doing more harm (root damage or complete uproot) than good (killing or smothering the weedy competition). It was quite a workout, as fuel was hand pumped from underground, 11 strokes per gallon, and there was no power steering on the tractor. Check-in that no serious harm had come to the tractor or its operator occurred 3 times a day by showing up on schedule to refuel it and me or park both for the night. With peak season work hours ~16 hours/day, sufficient sleep was not feasible. Fatigue is as impairing as legally drunk. https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safe...tigued-driving In the fields, risk to others was low. Occasionally it involved towing loads that weighed twice the tractor and obstructed visibility. Left turns from stopped on right gravel shoulder of a busy US highway, with traffic passing or oncoming up to 65MPH, required care and patience. In closing, I'm glad we (posters here) all lived through such escapades. Not everyone does. This reminds me of the high energy physicist's question, used to gauge a blend of risktaking and intelligence: "what's the most dangerous thing you've done without getting hurt?" Edit: Parking lots: I once got T-boned in the driver door, by someone who had just pulled into a parking space and stopped. He then backed out into me as I drove past. There was no way for him to see my vehicle, since the rear window and mirrors of what he was driving were full of frost/ice. He was moving his girlfriend's car in the apartment complex parking lot. He had had his driver's license confiscated, after an on-road collision, that occurred less than 12 hours before. Last fiddled with by kriesel on 2021-07-06 at 18:00

2021-07-06, 21:04	#21
tServo "Marv" May 2009 near the Tannhäuser Gate 2×3×109 Posts	For comparative purposes: There is an informal race called the CannonBall Run over public roads between a parking garage in NYC and a hotel in Los Angeles . During the height of the pandemic when the numbers of drivers ( and police ) had dwindled significantly, several drivers broke the record and then someone else would break it a short time later. As of August 2020, the record for the 2800 miles ( 4500 km ) is 25 hours 39 minutes which is an average speed of 110 mph or 180 kph. The drivers reached a top speed of 175 mph. Of course, the vehicles are VERY high performance vehicles with enormous gas tanks ( usually enough to avoid refueling ) with multiple drivers. Amazing! Last fiddled with by tServo on 2021-07-06 at 21:06

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2021-07-06, 13:33	#13
PhilF Feb 2005 Colorado 2²·7·23 Posts	How come I'm not seeing any Europeans post about trips from Copenhagen to Rome, or Lisbon to Warsaw? I suspect that crossing over so many borders has something to do with it...

2021-07-06, 13:44	#15
richs "Rich" Aug 2002 Benicia, California 519₁₆ Posts	Last month I drove by myself from Benicia, CA, to Scottsdale, AZ, on a Wednesday and then drove home on the following Monday. My nephew had his bachelor party there and I was definitely the oldest person attending. Distance was 787 miles each way, about 12 hours, with two fueling stops at Costco's in Bakersfield, CA, and LaQuinta, CA.

2021-07-07, 02:00	#22
kriesel "TF79LL86GIMPS96gpu17" Mar 2017 US midwest 12363₈ Posts	Or: 24 hours of Daytona; 2020, 2965 miles, ~123mph, 199kph average. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hou...and_since_1975)