Why Should You Use a Rest Stop When Making a Long Trip?

America is an exceptionally vast country, full of interesting sights, stops, and tourist destinations. Taking long road trips is one of the most exciting and fun things that families, friends, or lovers can do together, bringing people together in unique ways and broadening the horizons of our mindsets and lives. However, without the ability to make rest stops, driving would become a very difficult task indeed.

There are many benefits to making sure you plan ahead and find a rest stop along your route roughly every two hours of driving. These rest stops were built in and planned along with the construction of America’s massive highway system, because the planners and those designing it recognized the extreme importance of having areas where people can stop and rest along the way. Let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why it’s so important to make sure that you are utilizing the rest stop system for your convenience, comfort, and safety.

Benefits of Rest Stops

Rest stops help you stay alert and safe on the road.

When driving in optimal conditions for short periods, driving presents minimal risks to our health and safety. However, given the extreme importance of ensuring that our full attention is on the road, rest stops play a critical role in making sure that everyone is safe while driving. 

It’s easy to forget about the importance of staying refreshed while driving. Getting to your destination quickly should never take precedence over getting to your destination safely. Because of this, it’s always a good idea to check out your route ahead of time and find a rest stop you can get out at after approximately every two hours of driving. 

Rest stops provide a place to eat and use the restroom without having to buy anything.

One of the key points about the rest stops built into the highway system is that they were prohibited from hosting stores, gas stations, or other places where you spend money. Except for vending machines hosted by the state at some, rest stops are never a place where you will feel like you have to spend money to be there. This helps you save money on what can already be an expensive trip, and gives you a place to have a picnic, relax, and use the restroom without feeling pressured to buy anything. 

Rest stops allow you to stretch your legs and improve blood flow.

Most people are aware that health experts recommend standing up and stretching for a few minutes after every two hours of sitting. This not only improves comfort and posture while reducing muscle strain and fatigue, but is critically important to prevent dangerous blood clots. Sitting for too long can create a dangerous situation where blood clots can form and travel through your system, causing serious health emergencies.  

While this is rare, there are numerous proven health benefits from stopping frequently while driving. On top of that, it will simply make the drive more comfortable and reduce issues like back or knee pain. 

Rest stops provide a place to sleep for free.

Most rest stops permit you to park for a period of up to 24 hours, and it is legal to sleep in your car (verify this on a state-by-state basis). This is important for several reasons. You never know when you will be hit with a major load of fatigue while driving, and you might not always have the money for a hotel.

Rest stops provide a safe and well-lit area to pull over and nap in when absolutely necessary. Truckers, especially, have to follow certain sleeping regulations, and providing them a spot to do so greatly improves safety for all drivers on the road.

Rest stops prevent “highway hypnosis.”

According to heathline.com, highway hypnosis is “a phenomenon that causes you to go into a trance-like state while driving.” This is an extremely dangerous and well-documented phenomenon that has been noticed by health experts since at least the 1920s. 

Every single person behind the wheel is susceptible to highway hypnosis, and it can happen without you even noticing. Have you ever ended up at your destination, but you can’t really remember the specifics of the drive? That’s highway hypnosis, and it’s a potentially deadly concern that causes accidents every year.

Rest stops provide an essential way to mitigate and avoid this situation. Breaking up the monotony of a drive by stopping is the number one way to solve the issue, along with things like drinking caffeine, getting enough sleep, changing your usual route, putting on the A/C, driving during the day, and avoiding cruise control for long periods of time.

Rest stops serve an essential function. Don’t plan a long road trip without also planning ahead on where you are going to stop. This will ensure that everyone will have a safer, more fun, and overall more efficient road trip.