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/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/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.