By Rachel Puryear

If you enjoy taking road trips, you of course appreciate the need to drive carefully and safely. That makes the entire experience much better for you, and others out on the road.

Driving safely includes, of course, not driving when you’re too tired and sleepy to pay close attention.

You’re excited to reach your destination – or, eager to get back home after a great adventure. So what’s the most you can drive in a day, safely? How many hours should you log before calling it a night and pulling over to sleep somewhere? (See here for a quick guide to highway rest stops).

Let’s also look at a group of people who also drive quite a lot on the highways – professional truckers. They are subject to daily limits on how long they are supposed to be behind the wheel, so that they don’t get too tired and therefore have an increased risk of an accident.

California requires that truck drivers on its highways drive for no more than eight hours without a (30-minute) break, and no more than 11 hours behind the wheel within a 14-hour work window.

That’s probably not necessarily the standard you should follow, though, if you’re not a professional driver yourself – and you should especially not drive for eight straight hours without a break (you’ll probably need to stop for gas well before that, anyway).

Most adults (who aren’t professional drivers accustomed to long driving days) can maintain reasonably good focus for a total of eight to ten driving hours per day. Of course, it’s best to stop and take breaks for at least 15-30 minutes every couple of hours, too – after all, you’ll need gas, food and drink, bathrooms, and chances to just get out and stretch your legs. (Blood clots are a health risk from sitting too long without a break, as well). At convenience stores, picking up some coffee or energy drinks is also a great idea.

As the length of time to drive a specific distance can vary a lot based upon factors like traffic or weather conditions, it’s best to think of daily driving limits in terms of driving time, rather than just miles/kilometers.

Of course, regardless of how long or how far you have actually been driving; please pull over and stop if you’re getting tired, or are otherwise unable to fully focus on the road anymore. Driving while sleepy is as dangerous as driving while drunk.

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