If you think your everyday commute is bad, tell that to three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Johnson recently selected Kimberly Hanson's commute as the worst in the world as part of Quaker State’s World’s Worst Commute Contest, and for her daily troubles, Hanson has won a ride with Johnson on his commute to work and a trip for two to the upcoming Bank of America 500 race held in NASCAR's hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina on October 17.
Hanson, of Salt Springs, Florida, commutes in a topless Jeep Wrangler over a seven-mile washboard dirt road where deep mud and sugar sand (a mixture of silt and sand that some call quicksand) are her daily companions. She then has to take a tugboat ferry on a 30-minutes crossing of the St. John’s River. After disembarking from the ferry, she has to drive another 11 miles in the backwoods to her job.
The total commute distance may seem short, but here are the reasons why Johnson probably selected Hanson’s commute as the worst:
1) Hanson’s commute is out in the boonies, so you can forget about roadside assistance.
5) Having to get on a tugboat ferry. Because if getting stuck in deep mud or quicksand isn’t bad enough, there is also the chance of the tugboat sinking, which would make the commute a whole lot worse.
6) Having to ride 30 minutes on the tugboat that could sink.
7) She probably gets terrible gas mileage, considering she drives a Wrangler and has to drive slowly.
8) Her Wrangler is topless -- imagine the Florida gnats.
9) Being exposed to the humidity, on the days it isn’t raining.
10) Eventually, Hanson has to get back on the ferry and the washboard dirt road with mud and quicksand to get home.
Overall, a pretty atrocious commute.
The runner-up in the contest was Alan Nelson of Newbury Park, California. His daily routine consists of a 240-mile round trip from Newbury Park in Ventura County to Edwards Air Force Base out in Lancaster. Everyday commuting hazards include accidents, the desert, the occasional flood and fires, 80 mph winds, a ton of dust, snow and ice (seasonal hazard), and of course, traffic. Nelson has endured his daily commute to travel over a million miles in the past eight years and will also be on his way to Charlotte for some NASCAR action on October 17.
After checking a couple other Worst Commute videos on the Quaker State Web site, I must also tip my hat to Matthew Neild of Brentwood, Tennessee, and Tammy Sampson of Cottageville, West Virginia.
Neild juggles three kids to and from school over a 35-mile commute on a daily basis. I can see the back-seat grumblings and wet-willies now. Sampson deals with a 100-plus-mile daily drive where school buses, animals, potholes, angry drivers, and falling rocks are the norm. All of a sudden, I love my commute.
And what was Hanson’s response to having the World’s Worst Commute?
"It’s so exciting that, out of all of the entries and all the difficult commutes in America, my commute was chosen by Jimmie Johnson as the worst,” Hanson said. “I think accompanying Jimmie Johnson on his ride to work will be the best commute I’ll ever have.”