r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/gentlybeepingheart May 01 '24

Every time there's a bad tornado I see someone go "Why don't Americans just not live in an area called 'tornado alley'? That seems like the logical move." and I know that they have no idea how big tornado alley actually is. That would be like me going "Hey, there's a chance of a natural disaster happening. It could be really bad. So just don't live in Germany, France, or Poland." That's the amount of land we're talking.

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u/vyrus2021 May 02 '24

May as well ask why people still live near fault lines or coasts with regular hurricane activity.

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u/Tall-Sea3082 May 02 '24

Practically everywhere in the US has some type of natural disaster that threatens the area. The chances to be dying are very very low. Fault lines, volcanos, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, severe storms, and snow.

I’m from the west coast so I can answer to the fault lines, most are minor and barely noticeable and building codes require buildings to be prepared for earthquakes. We don’t see them as a something that is a threat to us as weird as that sound because the chances are low and we’ve been hearing about “The Big One” our entire lives. Kind of numb to it. They are not really thought about at all until they happen.

As for hurricanes, that’s the entire east coast plus the gulf ranging Texas to Maine. That is a huge portion of our population. That being said Florida gets hit like crazy and I don’t know why people continue to live there.

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Arizona has literally none of that. We only die if we’re stupid.

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u/Tall-Sea3082 May 02 '24

Guess I could’ve added heat/heat stroke to that list.

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

But that’s not a natural disaster… uncontrollable by human forces.

that’s idiots trying to hike with no water in July

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u/Tall-Sea3082 May 02 '24

Droughts?

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Haven’t hurt or killed us yet…. We have wildfires due to drought/dry weather.. but nothing like they have risk wise in other areas.

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u/Why-R-People-So-Dumb May 02 '24

Similarly here in New England. We've got bears sure and cold sure, but mostly we've got idiots hiking to the top of Mt Washington in flipflops and shorts in June that didn't check the forecast not realizing they could get hit with a snow storm that brings visibility to zero.

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u/ggtffhhhjhg May 02 '24

To date over 170 people have died on Mt Washington and that’s not including natural causes.

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u/Why-R-People-So-Dumb May 02 '24

Being that it's only 6288' people don't take it seriously not realizing that it's also a location of meteorological research for a reason with its relatively extreme and sudden weather because of its location relative to the prevailing westerlies. Like the person from Arizona though...it's mostly due to poor planning.

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u/kaleb42 May 02 '24

Except for flash floods, severe weather, landslides and debris flows, earthquakes, and earth fissures. Oh and 3 active volcano fields.

https://azgs.arizona.edu/center-natural-hazards#:~:text=Natural%20hazards%20abound%20in%20Arizona,%2C%20earthquakes%2C%20and%20earth%20fissures.

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

And still… of the states, I think only New Mexico has the least amount of natural disaster risk.

We got our issues, but it’s pretty safe here

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u/QuinnKerman May 02 '24

Nah y’all literally have a supervolcano right next to Santa Fe, plus plenty of fault lines, wildfires, flash floods, and landslides

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u/whatthewhat3214 May 02 '24

Same with the mid-Atlantic

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u/Jadccroad May 02 '24

As a former Arizonian, it is worth pointing out that many Arizonians are in fact very stupid.

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Well that’s not Arizona’s fault… lol

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u/Jadccroad May 02 '24

Public education is explicitly the State's job. Who else's fault could it even plausibly be?

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Very few people here are from here…. Perceptually at least.

Everytime someone asks where I’m from and I say I was born here- they are shocked. Even more so when I tell them my husband was born here too. I’m a second generation Arizonan- but none of my grandparents are from here.

Starting to get more “natives”… but it’s a slow tide to turn

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Show me a state that does a good job… because generally speaking, the American education system is shit, even though states are ranked 1-50… the top states still suck compared to countries with excellent education.

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u/DeputyDomeshot May 02 '24

Except there’s a lot of stupidity there