Does a "10 hour drive" include breaks?

TheOhNoNotAgain@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 123 points –

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

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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.

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.

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.

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.