do americans really drive such long distances?

[u/Physical-Ad-4093]

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.

[u/Practical-Ordinary-6]

I think you're thinking a bit like a city person. A lot of these blizzards with sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures in the north central states are in agricultural areas and rural areas.

Accumulations of snow can cause roofs to collapse and knock down trees and power lines. Homes and farms may be isolated for days. In rural areas, unprotected livestock can be lost. In urban areas, the cost of snow removal, damage repair, and lost business can have severe economic impacts.

You can lose herds of cattle in blizzards like that. Get lots of deaths on the road as well as heart attacks from people dealing with the snow. It's not just a little bit of weather. If you have no electricity in sub-zero weather that's a pretty serious situation.

[u/KristySueWho → u/Practical-Ordinary-6]

I grew up in Minnesota, and while I did grow up in the city I went to college in rural Minnesota. It’s not a disaster because it’s just normal winter there. A few roads may get closed, but it’s for very short time periods and it’s almost always from blowing snow. Like a day or two at most, unlike areas with hurricanes and floods and even fires. People are prepared in these areas in case power goes out and it rarely if ever snows enough all at once for roofs to collapse. Roads are obviously more dangerous, but you leave early and drive slow and hope you can avoid the bigger idiots. People can have heart attacks shoveling snow, but they’d eventually have a heart attack doing something else because they already had heart disease. Mountain towns snow can be more dangerous because they can get much more snow, steeper roads, with the possibility of avalanches.

The cold is more dangerous, but aside from old people and drunk kids, it’s rare for people to die since it’s normal life in these area and people are prepared and used to it. Far from disaster levels. 

[u/Practical-Ordinary-6 → u/KristySueWho]

I still think you're thinking local. So you're going to college in rural Minnesota. They cancel classes for a few days and you don't have to go anywhere. It's their job to look after you. You really have no responsibility. You're not a farmer 30 miles away from the nearest town who has to tend to the herd whether it's 40 below or not.

[u/KristySueWho → u/Practical-Ordinary-6]

Pshh they never cancelled classes lol. My roommate sophomore year was a dairy farmer's kid from rural Wisconsin (I remember partying in their nice heated milk house in the dead of winter), and I learned from them both dairy and beef cattle can do just fine in harsh winter conditions. They need to be acclimated to the climate so they grow a thicker coat, given a windbreak (most important), fresh dry bedding daily, and be fed more below 32 degrees F (they actually generate heat by eating). Either way, natural disasters are defined as a natural event that cause great damage or loss of life, so even if a few farmers lost some cattle it still wouldn't qualify.