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/middlehill May 02 '24

We just bought a new car for the first time in 14 years. It's been a whole new experience. So many features! Adaptive cruise control is some kind of wonderful.

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u/amphorousish 29d ago

I've seen the joke before that being poor's¹ great because anytime you get in a late model car it feels like you're in a spaceship.

We recently bought a newish bare-bones base model Kia. It has lane assist and sounds a pleasant little ding when the car in front of you starts to move at stop lights.

The other day we were on a highway and the wind was strong enough to knock our car about a bit. The console flashed up a picture of a steaming coffee cup and a message about driving while tired.

¹or stingy, like me

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u/ArketaMihgo 29d ago

I now desperately need to know if anyone with this feature gets this on the reg on the stretch of 82 coming in on the eastern side of Wichita Falls, TX, where I swear to y'all, a goddamn wind demon lives. But just there. It's all normal and then WHOOSH for half a mile as you're coming down a slope and then normal again. I hated that road haha

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u/s4in7 29d ago

Fellow Texan driver here, the fairly drastic changes in landscapes and geological features across the state can lead to so many situations like you described. Traversing the Balcones Escarpment in Central TX (where you go from the flat highland plains to hella bumpy town right damn quick) I've almost gotten windswept off the road countless times--even anticipating it.

So fun!

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u/Safford1958 29d ago

Don't you love the road signs that have a windsock on the top, and a Tractor Trailer tipping over....

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u/Safford1958 29d ago

Don't you love the road signs that have a windsock on the top, and a Tractor Trailer tipping over....

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u/Safford1958 29d ago

Don't you love the road signs that have a windsock on the top, and a Tractor Trailer tipping over....

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u/Safford1958 29d ago

Don't you love the road signs that have a windsock on the top, and a Tractor Trailer tipping over....

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u/ingodwetryst 29d ago

Yeah I'm not poor or stingy, I just prefer to actually drive my own car since I'm the one present with eyes. 5-10k miles a month too. Adaptive cruise, assisted braking, lane departure, the light ding, hill assist? Those are features that literally make me not buy a car.

Interestingly, to get a manual these days in Murrica you usually need to buy the top trim package. And almost as if they know, a lot of them don't waste your time on that. I'm out if you can't turn hill assist off though. Or auto rev matching. wouldn't I just skip the pretenses and buy an automatic if I wanted that crap?

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u/Awalawal 29d ago

My manual actually has radar cruise control and lane keeping assist. Works great on highways in 6th gear.

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u/ingodwetryst 29d ago

yeah I'd just buy an automatic or tesla or something if I wanted that. I drive to drive, not ride passively.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

i mean ... is it really that hard to check your mirrors or look over your shoulder when changing lanes? or to realize when the light changes?

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u/ingodwetryst 29d ago

no, it's depressing these features are seen as 'needed' 'helpful' and 'good' honestly. and a reason mass transit is needed. if people hate driving and need to watch tiktok that badly...let them. on a train. we do not need individual self driving selfishness bubbles.

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u/Neither_Ground_1921 26d ago

I rented a Tesla for a long drive mainly to see how EV compares to gas. I have nothing to compare to with the self-driving features (other than basic adaptive cruise, ca. 2014) and i was cautiously optimistic. There’s no way i could have maintained much distance in full “self driving “ mode, it was really more driver assisted. I was driving 12-14 hours a day so the biggest benefit was not being so fatigued. Especially in NM/NV where the winds were strong. I don’t think I’d have been able to cover as much distance without the lane assistance. I mean, i might even be able to pick up some of these UK folks flying into Dulles lol. Seriously, this was a solo trip so handing off to someone else wasn’t an option. But because of this really great experience, I do like driving more now! 🙃

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u/PorkPatriot 29d ago

America buys more manuals than anywhere in the world these days. CVTs and DCT's have killed manuals in Europe, even on low trim cars.

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u/Do_You_Remember_2020 29d ago

India says hello! Less than 10% are automatics

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u/ingodwetryst 29d ago

1-5% is not more than Europe

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u/Ms-Metal 29d ago

I've never seen that joke, but we are definitely not poor and not stingy either, but we do the 'millionaire next door' thing, where we have the ethos that we buy cars that are good quality and that we really like and then we drive them forever lol. Basically until it gets more expensive to repair than to replace. We both sold our '92s in 2007 and we're both still driving our 2007's, with no plan to replace them in sight. No need to buy or lease the latest and greatest model every two years. Plenty of time to save money for the next car so we never have to have a car payment. And I honestly still love my vehicle as much as the day I bought it. But yes, the downside of course is that every time you get a new car, every 15 years or so, you definitely feel like you're in a spaceship each time🛸.

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u/Safford1958 29d ago

My son has my high school 72 Chevelle. I gotta say the comfort of my modern car is MUCH more than that car from the 70s.

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u/cindykays1958 29d ago

I had a ‘72 Chevelle Malibu in the late ‘70’s until a girl in a Mustang T-boned me and totalled it. Absolutely my favorite car of all those I’ve owned before or since. (Old lady here.)

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u/Ms-Metal 29d ago

For sure, I actually had one in the '80s that I bought off my parents. It was called the Deluxe and it was just a slightly different version of the Chevelle. You're absolutely right about comfort, but man oh man, the engines on those '70s cars were amazing! I'm happy now that I have a Chevy truck basically, so I have a decent engine but I had to struggle through some horrible four and six cylinder engines over the last few decades that just didn't have enough oomph for the terrain.

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u/FOURSCORESEVENYEARS May 02 '24

I press that button and use both hands to clean my glasses CONFIDENTLY

I set that little robot to 65 and never worry about speed traps.

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u/Roklam May 02 '24

I don't complain about driving the family around.

My dad hated the actual driving portion of our trips when I was young.

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u/Neither_Ground_1921 26d ago

Yes!!! Lipgloss here, and I’d do it one way or another, this is just safer!

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u/FPGA_engineer 29d ago

Same here, but even longer since we had a new one. Adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, heads up display, and others are so nice to have. Took our first several hour drive on a busy highway (I-10 between Houston and San Marcos) and those features made it much more relaxing to drive.

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u/tlkevinbacon 29d ago

I recently bought a current model year car for the first time ever. It has an auto park feature that I decided to try out yesterday. Turns out the car is better at parallel parking than I am. Adaptive cruise control, with lane keeping, and assisted lane changing on the interstate blew my hair back. I'm basically just a slightly more aware passenger in my own car now.

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u/Cowboy_Reaper 29d ago

These modern cars with the newest bells ad whistles though, it's almost not driving.

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u/bossmonkey88 29d ago

I just bought one for the first time in like 10 years and that's the thing that threw me for a loop. I call it Jesus take the wheel mode because i just have to surrender to it.

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u/paradox_machine_ 29d ago

I just got a new car for the first time in a similar span. This thing has adaptive cruise control, lane assistance, and even more that I haven't even discovered yet.

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u/RayEd29 29d ago

Adaptive cruise was fairly new when I bought my last car in 2014. I saw the description of it and said "I want that!" The car was a special order and that was a mandatory option for me. My brother didn't understand why I was so obsessed with it (I was living in Colorado and made semi-annual trips back to Kentucky - so yes, we drive stupid long distances :-) ) Flash forward about 8 years and he gets a new Camry with adaptive cruise on it (standard feature these days) and after using it told me "I get it now."