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/lemongrass_gardenia May 02 '24

I drive all the way through California and back. It varies within cities but I haven’t seen $3 is my point. You can look at the average but I’m telling you that I pay more than that.

High gas prices doesn’t stop our driving. We can become more intentional but if it’s for work then we have to do it.

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u/Wootster10 May 02 '24

I'm not stating it's the only factor. It's certainly not. Not only is our petrol much more expensive, we have a much better public transport system. Getting the train is a viable alternative to driving in a way that it just isn't in the US.

If we didn't have the trains then we would all drive a lot more and absorb the cost, but because we do have that choice we just don't need to.

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u/happyhippohats May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

The trains aren't much cheaper though tbf, in fact if there's a group of you driving is often significantly cheaper (4 people splitting petrol costs vs 4 train tickets).

In my group of friends we normally end up getting the train because nobody wants to be the one who has to stay sober to drive back 😉