The Longest Stretch Of Straight, Uninterrupted Road In The World Takes Hours To Drive

When most people picture a dangerous road, they probably picture a single-lane road precariously perched on the side of a mountain. And while the fear of tumbling down an escarpment is very real, you shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security by flat, straight strips of pavement either. Saudi Arabia's Highway 10 features a 150-mile stretch through the Empty Quarter. It's the kind of driving environment that will make you zone out behind the wheel, presenting dangers of its own.

Highway 10 appears on satellite imagery as a perfectly straight line cutting across the desert with no settlements of any kind along the way. Traveling at the country's 75-mph speed limit, it would take two hours to traverse. According to Guinness World Records, Highway 10 was originally built for King Fahd, the Saudi monarch who ruled from 1982 until his death in 2005. The road wasn't constructed on a whim, though.

The highway links Haradh at the eastern end with the Al Batha border crossing at the western end. Haradh is a hub for Saudi Aramco near Ghawar, the world's largest oil field, which produces 3.8 million barrels of oil a day. Al Batha is Saudi Arabia's only border crossing with the United Arab Emirates. The two points are certainly important, but there's little commercial reason to drive between the pair, as most oil is transported over land via pipelines.

It might sound easy to put your foot down and hold the steering wheel straight for 2 hours, but research shows it's mentally exhausting. Many drivers will enter a trance-like state colloquially called highway hypnosis. The monotonous environment of straight, white lines can distract people through a lack of sensory input. Zoned-out drivers can unintentionally let their vehicle wander into an oncoming lane or off the road entirely. Paul Watters, the Automobile Association's head of transport policy, explained to the BBC:

"It's a strange feeling. You're not necessarily inattentive but you're in a slightly different state. I don't think it means you're going to have an accident but it means you're not completely engaged in the task of driving, so we would advise members not to get distracted like this."

Highway hypnosis tends to go hand-in-hand with drowsy driving. The aforementioned monotonous environment makes it easy to fall asleep behind the wheel. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, going a day without sleep is equivalent to having a 0.10% blood alcohol concentration. The best way to avoid sleepy driving situations entirely is to get some rest before driving. Don't just pull over for a nap on Highway 10, either, because daytime temperatures in the Empty Quarter can exceed 122 degrees.