There was a traffic slowdown on the interstate due to some guy driving well below the speed limit in the left lane
I once drove alone about 1600 miles straight. Ended up taking me 26 or 27 hours. I was alone most of the way but picked up a family stranded on the freeway with a broken down car between Cheyenne and Laramie. That significantly slowed me down. It was on the 4th of July in the late 1980ās. There was very little traffic and I kept a very good speed, except for that part with the family. My little car was really struggling going up those mountains from Cheyenne to Laramie with 4 adults and 2 or 3 children packed in with some of their stuff. I think there were times I was down below 40mph.
After having done that I would never do it again nor would I ever suggest anyone do it either. I truly count myself lucky to be alive.
I once drove about a 1000 in 18 or so hours. Realized if i had been a professional long haul driver, i would have been breaking the law. Helped me consider it not a good idea.
I used to regularly do 900 miles in a stretch. Havenāt made a one day drive like that in a long time.
Is this an R that Iām not Ning, or did you really do that?
I really did that. My wife and 2 kids had gone back home with her family for a vacation in May and I drove out to spend a couple weeks with them then we drove back. And I was a very important worker bee at the time and was told I had to complete all of my quarter end work before I could leave. I started very early, like 5am on the 1st and worked until about 3am the 2nd, went home and caught a few hours sleep then went back about 8am the 2nd and worked until about 1am the 3rd, went home for a few more hours of sleep I think I didnāt get back that morning until about 9 and worked until I completed my quarter end work about 7 or 8pm on the 3rd. Went home and slept until about 3am the 4th when I got up and started driving. Ended up pulling in between 5 and 6am the morning of the 5th.
Actually, recalculating that must have been 28 or 29 hours and I traveled west 2 timezones. Lots of Mtn. Dew and cups of Ice and sunflower seeds to keep me going. They didnāt have energy drinks or 5 hour energy shots back then.
The week before I left, I did go into the guy at the company who would write insurance and purchased the largest policy I could get bound without any underwriting (a 250K policy). The company only charged the employees the premium less commissions for the policy so I was able to get it real cheap. While I had some inkling that this was fairly stupid, I was more worried about a regular accident than a drowzy driver accident. I was actually pretty OK until about the last 2 hours of the drive. The last 45 minutes of which, it turned out, was down a fairly winding canyon off the freeway and on a 2 lane highway. After sleeping most of the next day I didnāt have much recollection of that last 2 hours but it was dark with virtually no light beyond my headlights.
Itās a great story to tell but like I said, I feel blessed to have survived. it.
I love driving, no problem driving 15 or more hours in a day. Windows down, music up.
Butā¦but! If I get a bit head bobby, I donāt push through. I pull over to the side of the road and have a 15 minute nap, which frequently becomes 20-30 minutes. That gets me alert again and I can continue driving.
Depends on the day. Iāve done 10 hour drives without really stopping because I was fine. But Iāve done 4 hour drives where Iāve stopped for a nap. If Iām feeling a bit less alert, I just do the nap even if itās relatively shorter. I donāt risk pushing through anymore. Iāve got nowhere I need to be that fast.
Agreed. Driving tired can be just as dangerous if not more dangerous than driving drunk
I used to love driving long distances without stopping, it made me feel like I had the potential to be a long haul trucker
Mythbusters tested this. Grant (Rip 
) set up a course for Kari & Tory and they drove it sober and then drunk and then he changed it all up on them and then they did it awake and then tired. There was both a city and a highway component.
I think the results were mixed. IIRC they did better on the city component tired, but they did better on the highway component drunk. I wouldnāt swear to that. It was a good episode though.
They both did a LOT better on everything awake & sober, obviously.
Reminds me of this:
Okay but what is they were drunk AND sleepy?
Drinking makes you a better dancer, I guarantee it
Probably the worst of all worlds! (But they didnāt test that.)
Also itās not a binary condition like they tested. There are levels of drunkenness and tiredness and I donāt think they tested multiple levels (which would have been unwieldy to test). But it was a pretty involved test anyway.
Or, at least his ancestors were.