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Comment by linsomniac | Hacker News Reader

Different people react differently to long car trips. I can drive the 1,800 miles to my wife's family in one shot, especially given time to nap while charging and the driver automation taking up the slack for being tired. I can then have a normal nights sleep and be fine.

My wife, on the other hand, being a passenger for such a trip, she arrives and then is wasted for 2 days.

But if you really want to be miserable on a trip... Take a train. My wife and son did that same trip by train a few years ago and: was delayed a solid day by flooding, lost power, had to suffer with malfunctioning toilets for part of the trip, and it cost more than flying or driving (counting hotels).

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You probably are a danger to others on the road, yourself and your family. More than 8 hours behind the wheel in a single day is irresponsible.

Isn't '8 hours a day' somewhat arbitary?

It's arbitrary but considered safe by most authorities where such things are monitored, professional drivers are given a bit more leeway,

https://blog.orbcomm.com/tachograph-rules-european-drivers-h...

but when they are caught exceeding the limits they are hit very hard (possibly including confiscation of the vehicle & cargo, as well as massive fines and possibly loss of drivers license). And that's good for everybody, the lorry drivers included, it gives them the expectations of a reasonable work day as well as the improved safety for everybody else and a level playing field. Fraud with these devices used to be rampant, it is getting a bit better now with the digital generation which is more tamper proof.

Key word here is "probably'. I made multiple 16 hour almost non stop trips through Europe, and it's fine for me. LA to San Jose and back in one day, with useful activity in SJ (working in the data center servicing our colo hardware) is almost a monthly routine now, without the need to book a hotel overnight

Survival bias at work.

Am I? Because in another part of this thread we're talking about how terrible EVs are for long trips because they force you to stop so much for so long... Which is it, am I given adequate time to rest, making EVs unsuitable for long trips, or are EVs not terrible for long trips, wearing out the driver? :-)

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