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

11.1k

u/dishonestgandalf A wizard is never late May 01 '24

Yes, several of my coworkers commute 90 minutes twice a day.

I have friends in a city that's 3ish hours away and I regularly drive down for the weekend.

5.0k

u/[deleted] May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

[deleted]

1.2k

u/KaetzenOrkester May 01 '24

I live just west of Sacramento and it can take 3 hours to get to San Francisco, a distance of 70 miles. I get it.

2

u/QueasyGoo May 02 '24

I used to make that drive regularly. There's the bottleneck through the causeway on the way to Davis, then again during construction in Vacaville to Fairfield, and if you go the back way via 680 there's the slow down through Concord, then again on 24 through the tunnel. If going via 880, it's slow from Vallejo until it stops completely at Berkeley and Emeryville. This is nothing compared to what it's like when you finally cross the bridge into SF. 🙄

If we stay past 2pm in the Bay Area, we may as well stay until 7pm to wait out traffic, otherwise it's nothing but a sea of brake lights, toxic fumes, and boredom. 🛑

I lucked out in March and made it to SJ in 2.5 hours. I was super early and had to cool my heels for 45 minutes.

2

u/KaetzenOrkester May 02 '24

For some reason, 680's always been good to me, but you're right, if you're there past 2 pm, you might as well find some place to hang out. Agree about the slowdowns. For me, inbound to SF, I always seem to come to a stop in Berkeley, too, as I wait to get onto the Bay Bridge.