How far (long) do you think it is acceptable to drive in one day?

[InsufficientMum]

One person doing the driving.

How long do you think is ok to plan for one days driving? 4 hours? 6? 8? 10?

Holidays, not work related. And is it reasonable to suggest DH drives a long distance alone because it would be convenient for me (and mean he wouldn't have to spend a week visiting my family). Then we share the return journey between us and do some sightseeing on the way back over 2-3 days. For full disclosure, I am not a fan of driving and prefer to take a break after an hour- hour and a half. DH likes driving so tends to do more in every day life.

That’s a very individual based answer. Many people will drive all day with breaks as and when needed. It comes down to not being too tired and being able to safely concentrate on the road and vehicle. It’s also safer to drive longer distances in a country where you are familiar with the driving conditions (eg which side of the road to be on).

Yes, that’s perfectly reasonable to answer your last paragraph.

Well I regularly drive six or more hours in a day but I’m not sure how that helps you decide what’s reasonable? It’s so individual

There's no one answer. I know plenty of people who stare in horror at the thought of driving 3 or 4 hours somewhere, especially with dc as 'they won't cope'. A 4 hour journey wouldn't phase us or dc and we probably wouldn't stop either unless one of the dc needed a wee.

We fairly regularly drive 11 hours to visit family for weekend stays (3 times a year) and usually DH does 100% of the driving, with stops every 3 hours or so to stretch legs/have a wee or coffee or lunch. Often we do the drive overnight so dc and I sleep most of it - DH goes to bed early evening and sleeps before we leave.

It varies according to personal preference I think.

My ‘break threshold’ is about four hours. Stopping every 90 minutes would drive me mad, personally, but if that’s what you prefer then crack on.

Shouldn't you be asking your DH how much he minds driving? It's not okay to expect someone else to do long periods of driving, especially when you're only prepared to do an hour or so. I suggest you ask what feels reasonable to him. I'm happy to drive 5 hours or more but he might not be.

Also depends on the type of driving - mike after mile of boring motorway gets very monotonous and I find I need more breaks. Interesting A roads and country lanes are better for keeping concentration.

But I can easily do 6-8 hours in a day with decent breaks.

I'd happily drive 6-8 hours

Just keep swapping over every 2 hours. We do this going to south of France d back

but have a look at what it is legal for a lorry driver to drive in a day and follow that, I think 8 hours ? But may be wrong on this

When I was a kid, my dad used to drive from the North of England to southern France with 1 overnight stop. Maybe 500 miles a day?
I have quite a lot of stamina, driving wise, could safely do 8/10h, with a couple of breaks.

I've done 900 km a day, two days running. Mind you I'll be pretty shattered the day after.

For me personally I find about 3 hours with no break to be enough for me. I’d prefer not to drive longer than that in one journey in one day. Although of course I would if I needed to.

DH doesn’t seem bothered at all and has done way longer drives.

Taking a good break every 2.5 - 3 hours we do a 12 hr door to door journey with 1 driver. I know that is not for everyone, but your suggestion of stopping every hour or so is ludicrous.

Husband regularly drives from
Plymouth - Arbroath and vide versa. I've often said work should put him in a hotel. We live in between both so on the odd occasion he's allowed home for a night to rest. Shocking really.?

I’d drop up to 8 hours in a day but with a couple of stops.

I would do 8 hours drive max.
15 min break every 2 hours to do some stretching exercises, cuppa and toilet.
never eat or drink during driving.

There's no acceptable length of time and no one answer as there are too many variables

Ask your husband, it's up to him. Will his answer be influenced by what MNers think? That doesn't seem very likley.

3-4 I wouldn't be remotely concerned about. 6 is a long drive, but depends a bit on the time of day and types of roads. I've done it several times for holidays/to visit friends. I wouldn't be keen on 8 hrs on my own, but I'd do it sharing the driving. I wouldn't want to do more than 8 in a day even sharing the driving.

The longest I've driven is 11hours, stopping for toilet/food breaks twice during that journey.

I do 14 hours from south coast to north of Scotland pretty happily. (Around 11 hours of driving and 3 hours of breaks.)

I regularly do 5-6 hours for work. (Cover whole of England.)

It’s too individual to answer; for me it’s 4 hours while for DH he could probably do 8, definitely 6 without it bothering him

Depends on the person. I did 4hrs, worked for 7hrs then 4hrs back home and that was plenty. If I wasn't working and didn't have the drive back I would do 6hrs but with a break

@TimeForMeToF1y no, he won't be influenced by mn. But if everyone had said that's crazy, can't expect / ask him to do that then I wouldn't suggest it. As I said I can't drive for longer than 1.5 hours really (physical limitations due to an old injury) so I personally wouldn't be a me to do it.

Mainly motorway driving.

I'd say 8 hours in a day maximum. Only would do longer for something such as attending a funeral or visiting someone seriously ill.

Reasonable to suggest DH drives alone if he does not want to spend a long time with your family, for whatever reason. Even if he likes them.

*able to do it