It is not about what percentage of the population exceed 50 miles in a day, it is what percentage of the population exceeds 50 miles in a single day once or more per week/month. This is the thing that demands the ownership of the second car. Personally I commute about 17 miles each way to work, plus another 3-5 miles round trip on days when I have time for a lunch break (sometimes in my car, sometimes carpooling with others for lunch), so sure it would work on the average work day, but take yesterday as an example when we went to my wife's sisters house for a late holiday gathering 50 miles away, plus a 5 mile out of our way side trip to drop off a key for someone, then a run to the grocery store once we were home.... It all adds up, and for me that means a driving of over 100 miles in a single day on average a bit more than once per week, and a trip of over 300 miles in a day about once per month, or maybe a bit less, more often this will be 300-500 miles over the course of 2 or 3 days every few months.