---
title: "Drive Time Calculator with Rest Breaks | Quiet Detour"
description: "Plan a drive from distance and average speed, or several legs, with a 15-minute break every two hours, a meal stop, your arrival time and a schedule."
url: https://quietdetour.me/drive-time-calculator/
---

Arrival time · rest breaks · stop-by-stop plan

# Drive time calculator

Enter how far you are going and your average moving speed, or add legs for different roads. You get an arrival time and a plan with rest breaks built in.

## How the plan is worked out

Each leg takes its distance divided by your average moving speed. Choose a realistic average that includes junctions, towns and traffic; it is nearly always well below the speed limits on the way. Stops after a leg, the meal stop and rest breaks are then slotted in, and clock times follow from your departure time.

Breaks follow rule 91 of the UK Highway Code, which recommends a break of at least 15 minutes after every two hours of driving. You can change both numbers. A stop after a leg counts as a break if it is at least as long as one, and a meal stop always does; either restarts the count. No break is added when you arrive.

Professional drivers must follow legal drivers' hours rules, such as the UK and EU drivers' hours rules or the US FMCSA hours of service, which this tool does not check. Whoever is driving: don't drive tired, and if you feel sleepy, stop somewhere safe.

**Wi-Fi at the services?** Motorway services, cafés and motels often ask for an email address before their Wi-Fi works. A [temporary inbox from CleanTempMail](https://cleantempmail.com/) (no sign-up, emptied after three days) gets you online without the marketing mail that follows.

## Sources

- The Highway Code, [rule 91](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-drivers-and-motorcyclists-89-to-102) (Driving when you are tired): a break of at least 15 minutes after every two hours of driving, and avoiding long journeys between midnight and 6 am.
- Legal limits for professional drivers, not checked here: GOV.UK [Drivers' hours](https://www.gov.uk/drivers-hours); EU [Regulation (EC) No 561/2006](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/561/oj); US FMCSA hours of service, [49 CFR Part 395](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-395).
- Mile: exactly 1.609344 km, from [NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B.8](https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811/nist-guide-si-appendix-b-conversion-factors/nist-guide-si-appendix-b8).

## Questions

**What average speed should I use?**

Your average while moving, not your top speed. A map app's estimate for the same route is a good guide: divide its distance by its driving time.

**Does the plan allow for traffic?**

Only through the average speed you choose. Allow some slack at busy times, and check the roads and the weather before you set off.

**What if the drive runs past midnight?**

Times carry on and are marked +1 day. The Highway Code advises avoiding long journeys between midnight and 6 am, when alertness is at its lowest, so the plan warns you when driving falls in those hours.