# Do you like being the driver on trips? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558 "2010-08-17T19:42:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/21 "2010-08-17T23:13:16Z")
I don’t mind driving, but I prefer to be a passenger. I get highway hypnosis really easily and I’m always afraid I’m going to do something stupid because I’ve gotten bored and stopped paying attention and then get someone hurt. 2 hours behind the wheel at a stretch is about my limit. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/22 "2010-08-17T23:16:09Z")
I dislike driving. Thankfully I do very little: no more than a couple of thousand kilometres per annum. I’m much prefer being a passenger. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/23 "2010-08-18T00:22:01Z")
I hate driving. Mainly because I get uncomfortable when I have to hold the steering wheel for more than a few minutes. My whole back starts to ache. Unfortunately, I have a 40 minute commute, each way, every day. Luckily my wife has a very short commute, 5 minutes, and she doesn’t mind driving, so she usually offers to drive when we go places for non-work reasons, like on weekends for shopping, visiting friends, or going out. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/24 "2010-08-18T00:24:43Z")
I love driving and I tend to be carsick when anyone else is driving, so… I’ve often driven 10-14 hours in a row, with only a stop or 2 for gas. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/25 "2010-08-18T00:46:52Z")
I’d rather passenge than drive. It’s less boring. I can read, or take a nap if I feel sleepy. Give me a bag of good books, maybe some crossword puzzles, a pillow, and I’m a happy passenger. My memories of long car trips as a kid are mostly happy ones. But I enjoy driving, too, provided I have plenty of audio entertainment with me, and provided there isn’t bad weather, heavy traffic, road construction, or something like that to make driving difficult, dangerous, or frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/26 "2010-08-18T01:19:22Z")
My husband likes to drive, and I like to be a passenger and navigate. It’s worked out pretty well for 15,000 km or so of road trips for us so far. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/27 "2010-08-18T13:20:40Z")
I love to drive, and my wife would rather not. We recently took a 2400 mile road trip and she drove a total of maybe an hour so that I could eat without us stopping. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/28 "2010-08-18T13:29:21Z")
Provided the other person is someone I trust as a driver, I don’t really care. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/29 "2010-08-18T13:30:50Z")
When I drive, I don’t get car sick. So if I have to go ona long trip, I want to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/30 "2010-08-18T13:38:55Z")
I used to prefer to drive when the kids were little, because the non-driver was in charge of refereeing fights, distributing snacks, etc. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/31 "2010-08-18T13:43:04Z")
It’s nice to know that if I ever need to go anywhere, 66.22% of Dopers are willing to get me there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/32 "2010-08-18T14:01:29Z")
I’ll drive if you don’t mind taking the scenic route (back roads). I don’t do highways, expressways, traffic circles, or actually trips into Terra Incognita (another city I haven’t been to). I don’t mind the thruway, curiously enough. No, highways scare me to death - I had a traumatic experience on one, and no, I never got over it. I won’t drive highways. I always say to my passenger, “I freeze up at the wheel”, with a wild eyed look on my face, and that shuts them up. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/33 "2010-08-18T14:18:43Z")
I’m the option that should say: “Whatever.” I like driving; but my wife drives all the time in her job as a sales manager for a publishing company. It’s generally a lot less stressful to just let her drive. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/34 "2010-08-18T14:26:36Z")
It depends on three things: 1. How much I trust the other drivers, 2. How much they trust me/how capable they are of not backseat-driving, 3. Length of trip. I don’t think I’m the best driver ever, and in general I’m fine with other people’s driving, but I can think of a few individuals I wouldn’t allow to drive a shopping cart if I could help it. I’ve mentioned my landlady with cataracts in both eyes before… There’s people who aren’t my favorite drivers but who are a much worse pain in the ass when they’re not driving than when they are. Since being in charge of the wheel makes them happy and have her betray them with another driver sends them into the pits of despair (ok, I’m exaggerating, usually they just grumble and backseat drive), they can have it and I can nod off. And of course if it’s a short drive it doesn’t make sense to change drivers. One of my brothers has better night vision than I do, I am a morning person, he’s a night owl. Neither of us backseat-drives for the other or steps on imaginary brakes; we’re both able to act as co-pilot. So if we’re going somewhere in the morning and coming back at night, I drive on the way there and he on the way back: it works great! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/35 "2010-08-18T14:39:53Z")
I’m the driver by choice (and by default, since I’m on my own) 99.9% of the time. The only time I choose not to drive is when I’m visiting my brother in LA. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/36 "2010-08-18T14:41:25Z")
I"m really indifferent to who’s driving. I’ve never minded driving, but don’t insist on it. In general, my wife prefers that I drive, so I do. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/37 "2010-08-18T14:42:07Z")
If I ride in the passenger seat, I’m going to fall asleep. Automotive narcolepsy. The only alternatives are to ride in the back (uncomfortable, because I’m 6’3" with a long back) or to drive. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/38 "2010-08-18T14:42:59Z")
I like driving, and don’t like being the navigator, so my SO navigates. The only problem with driving with my SO is he doesn’t like Indian music so then I don’t get to hear any. ☹ I rarely drive with anyone else. I do, sometimes, but try to avoid it whenever possible. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/39 "2010-08-18T15:01:07Z")
I’d rather do most anything other than be a passenger. On our 5-month RV journey last year, I drove every inch of it, from Alaska to WI and back to OR and all side trips along the way. I suck as a passenger. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558/40 "2010-08-18T15:09:32Z")
I had surgery once and my wife drove from Orlando to Reading, PA and the trip took 26 hours of driving, this doesn’t include the night at a motel. Once better I drove the entire trip in 15.5 hours. Yes, I like to drive on long trips because I have a chance of actually getting there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-being-the-driver-on-trips/550558.md?page=3)