Auckland to Wellington without stopping? You shouldn't.

Thursday, 18 June 2020

Speculation around whether it was possible for two sisters who tested positive for Covid-19 to have travelled from Auckland to Wellington non-stop on a single tank of fuel has been laid to rest with the revelation by Dr. Ashley Bloomfield in an interview with Radio New Zealand that the pair completed the trip in a diesel vehicle.

'Anyone with a diesel vehicle will know it is very possible to get from Auckland to Wellington and beyond on a single tank of diesel. And they've reassured that is indeed what happened,' Bloomfield told RNZ's Morning Report show.

Which is very true - most diesel vehicles are capable of travelling far in excess of the roughly 650km trip from Auckland to Wellington, but just because you can, should you?

It is recommended by the AA to generally avoid driving a long distance in one go. Take regular breaks to stretch your legs with short walks. It's easy to be lulled in by monotonous scenery, which can worsen your reaction times, ultimately leading to a higher chance of an accident.

Hypnotic, isn't it? If you do need to drive long distances, don't be afraid to take a break every couple of hours.

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Truck drivers aren't allowed to work for more than 5.5 hours without a minimum break of 30 minutes and while they are often hauling large loads and carry more road safety burden than the typical driver, it shows that even professionals shouldn't drive long distance without plans to stop.

We have some gorgeous scenery and roads in New Zealand and you should absolutely try and see as much as possible. But safety should be a priority.

For us regular folk, a 15 minute break every two hours is recommended. As a general rule it takes around eight hours to get from Auckland to Wellington via State Highway 1, which means drivers should rest for a total of an hour when making the North Island pilgrimage. And let's not forget, it's winter now which means the roads aren't as safe as they are in drier weather.

'Most people probably underestimate the dangers of driving tired,' said AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen.

'The official crash statistics show nearly 40 people losing their lives a year due to crashes involving fatigue but many researchers believe this is probably an underestimate.

'You don’t have to fall completely asleep to be a risk on the roads either. If people are getting tired they start to lose their mental focus, react slower and drift around on the road. People drifting left into the shoulder of the road then over-correcting back to the right and crossing the centreline is a very common type of crash.'

Thomsen said that the AA recommends people pull over every couple of hours ideally to get out of the car, stretch their legs, get some air and freshen up.

Another factor in long-distance driving is actually how used to driving long distances you are. For example, if the longest trip you normally make is 30 minutes, then driving for an hour and a half is going to be a long-haul and you may want to have a short break halfway.

'If you are a regular long-distance driver then you’ll probably be able to go longer before taking a break but the key thing for every driver is monitoring yourself and noticing when you are starting to not be sharp and focussed regardless of how long you’ve been travelling,' Thomsen said.

'That’s the time to stop for a bit and even have a short 15-minute power-nap rather than pushing on.'

As well as the negative effects on your mind and body, running low or even entirely out of gas can have negative effects on your vehicle as well, particularly a diesel.

Running out of fuel means the pump pulls in air as well as the last dregs of fuel, which throws the air-fuel mixture off and create a buildup of air in the combustion chamber. This can prevent the car from starting back up again or inducing misfires.

Additionally, if your vehicle is getting on a bit, there can be debris and particles hanging around the bottom of the fuel tank. As a general rule, anything that isn't air or fuel going into an engine isn't too good, which is why we have filters. These can clog up though, preventing fuel from getting into the engine at all.

Meanwhile, diesels have more powerful fuel injectors and different methods of ignition to petrol cars. Running out of fuel in an oil burner can be worse for the engine as the injectors are sucking in more air and can thus be damaged more easily. The air will need to be bled from the system in order to get the engine started again, a task usually left to a professional as it comprises removing the filters, cleaning and blowing out all the fuel lines, and potentially replacing the injectors and fuel pump.

Modern engines have fail-safes to prevent major damage but you still don't want to risk anything untoward.