Flats are completely random and have little to nothing to do with tires. The frequency of flats has a lot to do with where you ride and what kind of road debris you are likely to encounter. In cities like New York and Seattle or in rural areas like Iowa, the road debris is more likely to be glass and the occasional wire from a steel belted automobile tire. In cities of the southwest like Denver, Albuquerque and Phoenix, we have those hazards as well as cactus (not that big of a problem) and goat heads (a big problem) as well as a few other plants with pokey bits. Flats due to broken glass are about as common here as they are in both your necks of the woods. Flats due to goat heads are far more common here in the southwest.

And every tire I've owned has, at some point, been flatted by a goat head no matter whether the tire is a road bike, mountain bike or anything in between. Even tires with belts in them have been punctured by goat heads. They slow them down but they don't stop them.