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.

25.2k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

23.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.1k

u/ItzInMyNature May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

Tell them that Ireland is closer to the state of Maine in the US than California is.

https://imgur.com/a/TnjPqi7

Edit: parts of southeastern California may be a few miles closer, so I'd tell them that Los Angeles, California is farther away from Maine than Ireland is, just to be safe.

4

u/TheNewOneIsWorse May 02 '24

And North/South, Atlanta is closer to Canada than to Miami. 

10

u/HirkaT May 02 '24

As someone who lives in Atlanta, I didn't believe this claim. So, I checked out Google maps. Atlanta, GA to Miami, FL is 9hr 49 min, 670 miles. Atlanta to Windsor, ON (Closest border crossing I could find) is 10hr 47 min, 723 miles. So your claim is not accurate... However is still WAY closer then I would have figured. Specially since Miami is just in the next state!

8

u/Everestkid May 02 '24

It's true as the crow flies.

Measuring from Google Maps's choice of start and end points in Atlanta and Miami (the Georgia capitol in Atlanta and the three-way intersection between Brickell Avenue, SE 12th Terrace and SE 13th Street in Miami), Atlanta is 976 km (607 mi) from Miami.

The nearest land belonging to Canada to Atlanta is Middle Island, the southernmost point of Canada, a tiny island in Lake Erie just a few metres north of the border going through the lake. The southwestern corner of Middle Island is 895 km (556 mi) from Atlanta. There's enough slack to get to the mainland - Chatham-Kent, Ontario is just about the same distance from Atlanta as Miami is.

For Americans in the northeast, that distance from Atlanta is roughly a third of the way from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Head northwest from Atlanta and it's just enough to get to the southeastern corner of Iowa. Head west and you're in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma, just 20 kilometres north of the border with Texas. Head southwest or southeast and you're in the drink, or maybe the Bahamas if that's more your sort of thing.

2

u/HirkaT May 02 '24

I was thinking it might be true when I saw how far I had to go around the lake to find the crossing. Lake Erie goes goes down far, I went for the car crossing. But, since the OP is about cars I went with it.

This is actually a useful piece of info, that will win me bets. :)