Carla Sands, Why Don't Danes Drive More? 

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What makes this tweet so infuriating is that she has been US ambassador to Denmark for two years, yet she has learned nothing about the country. It just does not interest her. If other countries do not interest you, stay out of the diplomatic service.

One more reason for us Danes biking is that we are raised biking to and and from whereever we need to go as kids. Accordingly, it simply stuck with many of us as adults. Currently, I live in the Netherlands, which is yet another level more bike-friendly than Denmark, where I happily leave my (less expensive than in Denmark) BMW in the driveway and bike to work - often for several straight weeks. I appreciate your channel much, it is so refreshing to listen your unbiased (not being Danish) takes on Denmark and our culture.

It's funny, beacuase her driver was most like just bragging about his fitness (like a lot of bikers), and trying to show dedication to his work. Guess that went over her head.

A couple of additional thoughts that may help explain why Danes drive less in private cars. Firstly, if you live in a Danish city, chances are that you can buy everything you need on a daily/weekly/monthly basis within 5-15 min. walking distance. You do not need to go to a shopping center at the perimeter of the city. And secondly, large parts of many Danish cities are old enough that they are simply not designed to handle a lot of traffic, and a huge number of parked cars. This also helps to make it worthwhile not to have a car, if you live in a city center.

The reason behind why Americans drive a car is because they don't really have a choice, sidewalks are small, public transit sucks and bike paths are rare to come by. It's very sad that the US is that car dependant, try and watch the channel not just bikes, he's really good at explaining var dependency

We bike because it’s the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get around town. For longer trips we rent/lease a car or take the train. So having a car sitting around 24/7 when you only need it once a month or so is so wasteful and a waste of money.

Another key element in the "bikes vs. cars" discussion is that most European cities have grown over a period of hundreds of years, in many cases since medieval times. Their city centers were not laid out with cars in mind. Since many people do actually drive in the city anyway, that means that traffic congestion is a serious issue, especially in the morning and afternoon, when people are driving to or from work. As such, if you both live and work in the city, you may be in a position where taking your bike to work will take 10 minutes, while taking the car will take an hour. Not to mention the fact that parking in the city can be horribly expensive if your place of work does not provide employee parking spaces.

i will also say as someone who has been among the poorest danes for 10ish years. I was sick out of job and got kontanthjælp (unemployment). I was still able to effort a car for most of those 10 years. true my car was a cheap older car but i had a working vehicle for allmost all of those years. (the first 2 years i borrowed a car so didnt have to pay for one). there is no dane who makes less money than what i did during that time btw. I was on the absolute minimum income a dane can be on. (except maybe people who study will get a tiny bit less but the difference is not worth mentioning). I also had my own appartment and no debt. No savings or fund from rich parents (cus mine were poor too due to heavy terminal illness). I will not pretend it wasnt tough but the idea that cars are too expensive for danes to own one is laughable. If you live in the most expensive areas and have the income i had then sure you probably would not be able to effort it but remember this is the lowest possible income a dane can have. It is all about priorities though. I ate decently well for most of those years and definately never went hungry thats for sure. But i definately chose to spend money on the car rather than going to café's and night clubs. I didnt go to cinemas really and i didnt buy new clothes very often. That being said i was never afraid of going without food or necesities a single day. When i had girlfriends to share rent with we even had 2 cars at times. Even when one of my girlfriends was studying and had an income that was similar to my own shitty one. Now with a minimum wage job i am able to effort a nice modern car and have bought a house. though this is also due to a girlfriend who earns average danish wages. But the fact that we can effort a modern car and a 2019 built house on less than the danish national average household income..... I think that it shows just how wrong that woman is. I know many people who live in some of the biggest cities in denmark and work minimum wage who can effort cars no problem.

When living in the Copenhagen area, I stopped having a car. Too slow to drive, and too much hassle with parking. With good bicycle infrastructure, this served my needs better, combined with public transport, occasionally a taxi, or walking. With my current rural life, I have a car again, longer distances and easier parking. Of course, it also saved money not having a car around Copenhagen, but that was not the main reason for selecting a more practical way of transporting myself. And with electric bicycles, the range of "easy bicycling" is getting quite a bit longer now.

As a half-Dane living in the UK, I agree with all your points. As for bike infrastructure, it is also desperately needed here in England. There is a sort-of slow movement to get it built up but so far it seems to have lacked any urgency or impetus. Where I live, on the edge of a village in flat Oxfordshire, I would never consider biking (or in my case, driving a mobility scooter) to the next village along the narrow, winding B road with no pavements. It would be too dangerous... but a bike lane would be wonderful & would give back to me and very many others the opportunity to bike, scoot and walk without the worry of danger.

We lived in big cities untill 2003. So I got my driver's license at the ripe age of: 48!!! Now we have 2 cars, we live in the countryside and have 7 miles to the closest shop and about 13 miles to the closest mall. Now I just wonder does Carla still believe we have polar bears walking around in the streets of Copenhagen? We DO have polar bears in Copenhagen, but only in the Zoo.

How many cars danes own does depend on where in Denmark you live, my family lives in western Jutland, and they have a car per adult, because there isn't that good public transport, so they need them to get to work. Where I grew up and went to school it was the norm to get your drivers licence when you turned 18. Living in Copenhagen now I rarely drive, and I meet more people who doesn't have a drivers licence, because they don't feel like they need them.

Wish you had shown that one reply sarcastically talking about this man who's toor poor to drive a car, so he has to use a bike, and then the image below is a photo of Crown Prince Frederik. That was a great one

I'm cackling ... - the way your voice changed, reading her tweet, amazing! ♥ - you could have just read that and anyone who follows you, would know exactly what you think of her

I er super gode, jeg kan virkelig godt li' at i ved hvad i taler om, det er ikke så tit det sker at amerikaner kender det virkelige Danmark !. 🤗

Study after study have confirmed that the 3 main factors needed for more people to choose biking over driving is: 1: Bike infrastructure 2: Bike infrastructure and 3: Bike infrastructure Every other parameter is miniscule compared to those 3... And if anything, I hope we hare in Denmark get a lot better bike infrastructure in the future, so we need to spend less time in a car, not more ^^

I have been to Copenhagen and some other city outside the capital, I never needed the car, because the buses were great and the trains as well, I love that city

Allow me to change the focus a bit. Another difference between DK and USA is,that in the US a new president changes the ambassadors in a lot of not-really-important countries. Anybody can be rewarded with that job usually due to a lot of donations to the election campaign. Being qualified for the job is not important, esp. in the Trump years. I see it as kind of being a student abroad. Unfortunately Carla Sands didn't learn much.

I think you are right about having bikes and developing bike infrastructure in the US. It's funny that you say she's a chiropractor; she should be aware of the back problems that many Americans have to deal with because of driving to do everything. The weakened cores, and the development of the "Fupa" is the order of the day in the US.

Robe Trotting drenge, if possible, please check out Not Just Bikes’ videos on how USA is going bankrupt because of car dependent suburbia compared to the Netherlands. He moved there from Canada. He absolutely demonstrates how bikes and great public infrastructure can sustain a great and productive economy. I’m danish, and I’m envious of the Netherlands in this regard.

In the countryside, most families have 2 cars. But also a couple of bikes. Mostly because if you meet early at work there is no bus. But you can be sure that if the road to your child's school is not dangerous then most children cycle to school during the summer. And children in many municipalities get free bus passes for the school bus. But even though the country is small, there are big differences in the infrastructure.

Rufus come back - we miss you.

It’s not the taxes. When you live in the city, a lot og people don’t need a car, to get around and also brcause we have the public transports

We are a five person two car household, even though I walk to work. My wife uses the small car to drive to work (cheaper in gas), and then we have a big 7 seat car for family trips.

Most of the time bike and public transport works 70% of the time in Copenhagen area. If I had a car I'd still not use it for getting to city center... Driving takes twice the time of the s-train if you live in the suburbs. The times I really miss having a car is when I visit my family in Jutland... But the fees of having an idle car just makes it difficult to find a reason for when you're within walking distance to s-train.

I am relatively poor solo mother and no longer working due to illness. Taxes are high but I still have a automatic Suzuki swift from 2016. Everyone I know without a car could easily afford one. They like biking. So I think prices or taxes is not really reason. Plus public transport is great here

Denmark has an amazing public transport system. Can't say the same about our public transport here in Northern Ireland, which annoys my Dane massively as he uses it for work.

I live in Gothenburg, it's not built on a hill, but it certainly isn't flat, and I love being able to use my Christiania trike to get my dogs and myself to and from places. By the way, next weeks episode sounds interesting, I'm looking forward to it. P.s. I liked this episode, too.

One of the things that attracts me to Denmark is that cars are optional. From my limited experience of three visits, you can live almost anywhere in Denmark and get around with bikes, transit, and trains. It feels so nice to bike, sit on a nice train and enjoy the sights, or being able to take a bus from one rural village or town to another. There are very few places in North America that come even close to this. Not to mention, leaving your bike at a transit station and having it still there when you come back is also a magical feeling. All this likely contributes to that high happiness rating that Denmark consistently achieves.

I think car driving very much depends on where in the country you here. Out here in West Jylland EVERYONE has a car.

You only have to be in Denmark a single afternoon to realize the biggest difference between many Americans and Danes in general. Most Danes are not overweight and one of the reasons for that is simply that Danes are more physically active compared to Americans, and biking is just one of the reasons for that. Another major reason is that Danes walk and walk and walk. Americans like Carla Sands, Donald Trump etc. are the reasons Danes mostly consider Americans slightly ignorant and arrogant. Carla Sand's comments make one wonder if she actually knows how to ride a bike in the first place.

Sorry guys…. Public transportation outside the major cities just doesn’t work. ….or… it works, BUT we simply don’t have the time for it. You can quite easily reach the “bigger towns”, but to go to your final destination by public trans and taxi is a killer…. And re. Mileage pro persona… look at the size of our country… It is simply not possible to travel as far as in the average US state. Love ur vlogs - great to have your view on DK - finding them very refreshing, educational AND entertaining.

Honestly im danish and we have 3 cars, im 18 and need it for driving to work. When you have to go to work out of copenhagen and Aarhus you need a car to travel

I mean you bring up some excellent points but still car dependency is still a fairly notable problem here in Denmark. Especially in recent years. In most of the country, even downtown Copenhagen, transit is underfunded and have some notable issues. Its worst in Jutland though, which is so car dependent that its basically a meme amongst the public that Jutlandians drive more than everyone else. But at the same time, all their infrastructure is built around cars first, often with poor infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians. Some cities in Jutland legit look like midwestern American cities. And thats not even mentioning the very low bus frequencies there, or how in most of Jutland, most bus and train routes stop running at 6pm! That's absurdly early and makes it impossible to do anything in the evening outside of home if you need to get back by bus or train! Heck we even see this on Zealand and in Copenhagen where evening bus timetables with reduced service now start at 6pm instead of the previous 8pm or 10pm. And then there is the slow speed of transit and poor connections with other lines. As an example, my mom has an about 25-30 minute drive to work each day, but by transit, that would mean taking the once an hour bus from my village to the S train station, where it arrives just a minute or 2 late every time to catch the connecting R-bus, wait there for 29 minutes at the bus station on benches that are barely hanging onto the wall and its leaky roof anymore and as such are slanted like that toilet intended to give you leg pain! Then spend 45 minutes on the R-bus due to its winding route before getting to the train station close to her job. There used to be an almost direct and much faster E-bus line from the S train station at least back in the day but budget cuts meant that got removed around 10 years ago. And the municipality (despite our mayor literally being the chairman of the Bus agency) isn't keen on funding better bus services because she and the other politicians are more interested in spending money on expanding and maintaining parking lots around town... At least our former minister for transport did a legendary Ratio on twitter. We might be some of the worst in Europe... but we're better than most of North America on this front.

I find it very wierd, that americans in any kind of public office... can say anything they want, without any repercussions? I feel like in Denmark, they very fast, get in trouble? I don´t know if it´s true? But at least we are getting another ambassador 😊

One more reason not to drive in Denmark is the wonderful public transportation they do have. I was a bus driver in Copenhagen and I know, that people appreciate this option.

There is about 3 mil. privately registered cars in Denmark. That's about 1 car for every 2 danes. Public transport is only efficient in the major cities though. Out here in the boonies where I live, it would take me about 1h. 15m. each way to get to and from work. And I have 10 miles each way...

Maybe you have also heard an old children's song: 'Jeg er så glad for min cykel' (I am so happy for my bike), a song that also ressonate with many adults. You will also see a lot of elderly people on their bikes, maybe only for short rides. It is out in the fresh air, you can leave it almost everywhere, and it never gets old. :D

public transportation is rly good in the big cities, but when u do not live in the big cities in Denmark, u need a car, it would take me 1 hour and a half to get to work vs 30 mins in car :P and my work is only 20 km away

Great video! Loved it!

My mom bought her own car in Denmark and she works 32 hours a week as a cleaner. My dad bought his own car and he works as a machinist and crane operator. They also bought a house together out in the countryside, and share most expenses equally. They need two cars because of the location of their house, but this just disproves Carla’s point. My parents aren’t rich and are able to own two cars and a rather large house on an enormous lot, albeit in the middle of nowhere.

If Danes can't afford cars, then what are all those big bridges for? You think we built them just for the scenery?

My parents lived out in the country, and while my dad used the car for work, my mom would take the bus. She didn't get her driver's license until she was 42. When I got mine two years later, she and I shared a car. I bought my first car two years ago, and yes, it was a used car, but it helps when I go to work. Before that I was quite content taking the bus or train.

Great Video as always :-)

Cars can be a hassle in Denmark, especially in the bigger cities with the lack of parking spots and expensive parking rates. "Smaller" (

Can you guys make a video about graduation in Denmark? I am from denmark and i would love to see your perspective on it

We did have car production in DK, the "ellert". Dont think they make them anymore

Carla Sands’ efforts as Ambassador is in stark contrast to Rufus Gifford who did a fantastic job and really embraced Denmark. The Danes responded in kind and to this day, Rufus is loved by many many Danes.

"Chiropractor Carla"🤣🤣

Thank you guys for a very good explanation and getting rid of a lot of misunderstanding. That *Carla Sands* must really be a moro... Wait! What did you say? She was the *former ambassador to Denmark?* Did she *pull her knowledge in a vending machine? I* am absolutely lower class. I can afford and do have a car out of practicallity, sometimes necessity. Whenever I can do without it I go by bike or public transportation, for *all* the (good) reasons you named + one more: On a bike I can enjoy the weather.

First off - she's the perfect example of political patronage gone tits-up. There's a history of freshly-elected US Presidents appointing their cronies and generous donors to ambassadorial posts in some unfortunate countries to repay their support during the election campaign. Some of them are fairly intelligent, experienced and capable of fulfilling their briefs while some, like her (a former chiropractor, actress/socialite), are totally unsuitable, plain embarrassing and I would say bring further disrepute to the country (if that is possible at all). Secondly, the US is a huge country and the cycling culture is never going to take hold there other than as sports/recreation. Except for big cities where public transport is widely available, the distances are far too great for regular commuting by cycles. People have to use cars to get to work, to shop, to school and everything else. Some families have to have more than one car as husband, wife and kids are going to different places/directions every day too. But I do hope that at least in big cities, the local governments would come up with a better/cheaper modes of getting people from point A to point B without having to get in their cars and choking the roads and killing the environment. They should impose a daily congestion charge for cars coming into the city centre (like they do in London), make roads friendlier and safer for cyclists and make public transport cheaper.

EV's don't have the tax you mentioned in Denmark. The hard tax is on fossilcars :D About half a million Danes have two cars. Carla Sands is just crazy (and dangerous) - just like Trump.

I believe that the main reason, that Danes don't need a car or two cars is, that the housing market in Denmark is much more liberal than in the USA. I lived in Memphis, TN, for four months and I was shocked that it was not allowed to run a shop in the suburb. In the USA areas are micro managed, and when it's a residential areas, then it's a residential area. We simply don't have this type of city planning. It's much more liberal in Denmark. Not that we don't have any requirements for the developer of an area or a private person, who wants to build a house. There will usually be requirements to the design and number of parking lots, green areas, et cetera. You are usually also not allowed to build higher than the church tower. But still much more liberal than in the USA. I would suggest that you look into this. It could be a great video.

Derek, your shirt is genius. I want one😉Where did you get that?

In the larger Citys biking and using the puplic transportation is way faster then finding a Spaces for you too park you car. And just renting a parking space near your home, can be quite exspensive. When you get out side off the big Citys, its way more practical too own a Car, and way faster then puplic transportation in most cases. Why spend alot off monney on a car if IT don't save you any time!

Another reason is the size of the country. We rarely have to go for longer distances with the exception of some commuting. In case public transportation doesn’t work for commuting we will drive by car, but often more people together to share the expenses and to have company.

There was a hillarious bike commercial in Denmark many years ago. It showed 5-6 of flat places in Denmark with just the sound of wind blowing, and then the punchline "Who the h3ell cares about riding a mountain bike in Denmark?" and then pictures of some "regular" bikes.

That's such an embaressing tweet. Adding it to the list of weird things people say about Denmark lol Like....most of us middle waged ppl can afford a car, we just don't need it. Especially if living in the city. For me personally, it's a concious choice. I don't have a driving licence, nor do I need it living in Copenhagen. As you mentioned, for a lot of us it's an environmental thing - it just polutes too much. And very often, it's actually faster just taking public transport. But I'm also proud to say we have such a high functioning public transport infrastructure - the metro alone has an accuracy of 99,3% of when the scheduled train is supposed to come. And we're getting the first railroad in the entire world running completely on batteries and electricity. That's HUUUUUGE. Thank you for as always having the nuanced view on everything :D

Endnu en fed video gutter 👍 Set i betragtning af vores system af cykelstier giver det menig at vi i folkeskolen uddanner vores børn så de får “cykel kørekort”. At gå eller cykel er godt for miljøet og godt for kroppen. Tak for jeres altid kritiske men også sunde tilgang til jeres emner. God gået gutter 👍

I commute by train every day to my work. It's 80km each way. If everything is okay and you get a seat it is almost like a shared limousine. Read a book, get some sleep, do some work, watch a movie and so forth

Maybe also look at car size and prize per gallon. I have a hard time getting why Americans seem to tend to drive so large cars. Also prize per gallon is far less expensive than in DK.

I’m Danish grew up there… I have this year lived in the US for thirty years… I didn’t have a drivers license when I lived in Denmark… I didn’t need it as the public transportation was well developed that a car was not a necessary expense and yes I biked to work an hour every day when the weather was not really bad… I was able to take a shower at work and so this was my build in exercise to keep me healthy and fit… when moving to the US I was really missed being able to ride a bike and having a car was a necessity as they public transportation was none existing where I lived… When taking the train I could spend the hour commute to read or even nap 😜 So I do think Denmark tries in ways to minimize the amount of cars and most families have only one car vs here where every person (of driving age) in the house has to have a car to get to where they need to go… The amount of pollution it creates per household is just one aspect of it… in many ways I feel the US is so far behind on many things that Denmark does really well and have for many years now… yes, even 30 years ago when I lived there and the US still haven’t caught up to that… So I agree… I wish the US would be more like Denmark and help preserve this earth we all live on… they certainly have the power to be a great influence on this matter

Benefits of biking: Not stuck in traffic Better health -> Less strain on the healthcare sector Cheaper than a car Lower infrastructure upkeep Final note: I used to study transportation and logistics, and biking was the only mode of commuting, which had a positive socio-economic impact!

I er super gode, men savner virkelig indsigt i den offentlige transport udenfor de store byer. Tag ud i landet og prøv nogle forskellige eksempler. Det kunne være lærerigt for jer og andre🙂. Tak for en god kanal👍

Big part of the biking life in Copenhagen is the fact that it's simply faster. I live and work in Copenhagen, and during heavy traffic hours, I'll get to work 30% faster than if I had a car. Then there's the exercise and gas prices and parking availability. It's simply a stupid decision for me to own and drive a car :) Those reasons don't apply to someone living the bigger american cities. And let's not forget the smouldering heat you get in America several times a year. We don't really have that here.

Thanks, nice video

When I was little we did had a car, but in the summer months we never really used it🤷🏼‍♀️. We would bike everywhere we needed to be😉 It was fun, and truth be told just really “hyggeligt” to be biking together☺️ And an hour or two of biking (each way) was not to bad🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏼‍♀️🚴🏼🚴🏼😉❤️

I live in Copenhagen and when I got a new job w +1h commuting time by public transport my partner and I briefly considered whether another car was needed. However we both consider two cars for two people ridiculous living where we do. The solution we came up with instead is to buy an e-bike. This will due to rush hour traffic not take much more time than by car.

I love that you explain the many good reasons Danes love to bike. I live in Southern California, the land where freeways were first invented. The story goes that back in the day the automakers of Detroit made a backroom deal with the city of Los Angeles to build freeways instead of a mass transit system. Fast forward to today and we are stuck with traffic jams and horrible air pollution. There have been efforts to build a mass transit system, but it's almost impossible to fit one in and around our urban sprawl. And people are just too used to just driving everywhere. I know people who will get in their car even to go to somewhere just two blocks away. City planners plan for cars, not pedestrians and bikers. .... but you mention that Denmark is flat and has a low elevation. Could you do a video on how Danes will protect their country from rising sea levels? I'd bet there are some interesting ideas in the works. Thanks!

Love your videos❤️ Just a tiny comment. Be aware of, that Copenhagen is not Denmark, but just the capital of Denmark and it is not representative for Denmark😊. Fx in Fyn and Jylland a lot of families have to have 2 cars because of the distance to jobs, kindergarden....

We all can drive a car, we all have money to do it, but Denmark is more of a little simpel country, so it makes it easier to just take a bike ,if we have to do somethin gin our little city, we can easily drive a couple of miles or km's.

Yes! It's all about mindset. Here in New Zealand, public transport and biking infrastructure advocates really have to fight for every kilometre of bus or cycle lane (especially when it impacts on street side car parking): businesses immediately see it as a way to prevent their customers from accessing their stores and they combat every proposal; and there's definitely a mindset here that public transport is only for saddos who don't own a car, or who are super hippie and bike everywhere (!). Every dollar spent on active modes of transport is begrudged as elitist. This mindset is what needs to change in order to decrease the level of car dependency and increase the amount of well-planned cycle ways and public transport infrastructure. It may be urban legend, but Britain's Margaret Thatcher is thought to have said: "A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure." This is exactly the kind of thinking that we see here in NZ, and also displayed by your ex-chiropractor (maybe she got lots of patients with car-dependent bad backs from lack of movement 😆)

Fewer Danes drive cars because ALL Danes use their bikes to get around. Also the bus transport system is very efficient, affordable, and everywhere.

You know that there are no mountains in Denmark, but you show a picture of the Faroe Islands and call it danish nature. If a person who does not know the difference between the nature of the Faroe Islands and Denmark see that they will think that there are mountains in Denmark. I am Faroese and I live in Denmark and it irritates me a little that you talk about Danish nature and show a picture of the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are Danish yes, but only politically. I am very happy to follow you I feel that I am learning about American culture for better or worse. I would very much like to visit the USA one day and I get more and more information from you guys thank you guys for that 😀

Im glad to see theres some americans with a bit of sense 🙂

Hi guys I hope it’s okay that i promote “Why europe is insanely well designed” here in your comments, if you wanna get numbers and statistics on some of the statements made in this video, it’s a very well put together video also on infrastructure, but in Europe vs the US have a nice day:)

You should make a video on cykling rules in Denmark. I live in Copenhagen and i see a lot turist getting into truble or getting hurt or getting other cyklist into tuble, because the only know the 2 rules: stay on the right side and on the cykling path. They put there but on a saddle and just go for it....But rules like dont stop next to a truck, what to do around busses, how to turn left, were to cykel when there is no cykling path.... all of the rules that we have learned since childhood.... I think that you two gentlemen would be perfect at a cykling toturial...just a thought from a dane... p.s. I do like your videos....

Denmark is also a small country. That's another reason that a bike is very useful here. We don't have the vast distances that the U.S. has where you most definitely would need a car.

There was a general motors assembly plant in Denmark from 1924 to 1974.

My SO is the one with a income where I am kind of a burden finatinally. We can afford a car if we really would, but it is far cheaper for us to use the puplic transport. I do have a bike and used it everyday as a kid and teenager, I adore everyone who can bike to work or everywhere else! I dont use mine as much anymore as I have to go into the city mostly and I have anxiety around city bikers.. As you mention the conditions are different in Danmark. If we lived further out in the small cities, we would properly have a car to get around :)

In our household (3 persons) we had 3 cars bc we had our work in each direction Where we had No public transportation. Now we have only 1 car (3 grandkids as Well) but all of us have a bike and a bus pas.

Again I loved this video and your summer haircuts, too. This about the fewer cars is an example of misconceptions that stem from different overall systems - if you discuss one detail of it you don't get the big picture, and if you don't know about the big picture you get all of it wrong. Danes have a very high standard of living and can simply prioritize as they want to. They are freer, safer, happier, than US-Americans for sure. Denmark is tightly build, I perceive that the suburban sprawl (with one-family-homes in small gardens) aren't as common in Denmark. That makes the distances to commute shorter. Mild winters, athletic ideals, egalitarian world-views, flat landscape (but windy), reluctance to put asphalt all over the very fertile Danish soil and their pride in the pittoresque Danish rural villages, good public transport, the opinon that private cars are a form of luxury because not neccesary, all seem to contribute to the fact, that for decades cars and driving have been very expensive in Denmark. It doesn't look that the happy Danes are keen on emigrating, they thrive, and love their country. But of course they are free to move away, and as they are well educated and speak very good English, they surely would receive a Green Card any time. Danes just don't envy the US-Americans in any way or fashion - that's my impression - seen from neighbouring Sweden.

HAHAHA... Had I seen that tweet I would have laughed her off this planet. You're right it is, for all intents and purposes, a way to make herself relevant, an idiotic way to do that if I must say. Having been an ambassador for two years it is impossible she hadn't seen the way Danes live. Then again I don't understand why Trump has so many followers I mean, I understand the structural reasons but still. At any rate, thanks for your videos, my family is Danish though I'm not and it is very interesting, sometimes amusing, to hear your perspectives. I wish you all the best.

Another relevant point is distance. Denmark is tiny. If you drive 40 km from Copenhagen city center you are not in the suburbs, you are in Stockholm, Sweden. And when you are going to work the bicycle is likely faster and more efficient than driving (and parking) a car - unless you commute to another town.

It is also easy to bike to work bcz of the generally shorter distances. And here in the Greater Copenhagen Area, you can take your bike with you on the s-train and in the Metro free of charge and then drive the last part of the way from the station. Very convenient if you live far from your workplace.

I'm so glad you to guy take this stuff up .. I have even heard fools say we can not afford guns !!!! Personally, I do not own a car. I take my bike and cycle to work, shopping, and rent a car when needed or train, bus...... I don't need a car all........... And I save the money for eg. travel, house, TV and more. And I need not to woork so much... A smalle Car i Denmark cost 1000-1500 $ at month. I can travel to USA or China and back once a month for this :-) You kind of Americans is our true friends :-)... Keep up the good work... To other American who don't beleve theese two guy.' 1 GOGGLE it. 2 Come to Denmark and see how we live....................

I drive 62km. just to get to work. And 62km. to get home again. That's not possible without a car. Anyway. The mentioned analogy only holds true, if you live in a large city. In rural Denmark, most of Denmark really, you can't live without a car.

American here. No car because I'm broke and I love the exercise I get every day.

On occasion I bike to- and from work. That 2 x 28K. Sometimes I run ! Not because I'm poor. But because I like to stay fit and strong and like the effort in it self. I do own a car and most days I admit that I use the car to commute.

Also distances in Denmark are much shorter than in the US.

Can we make a demonstration to get Rufus back, is that even possible. It would send a message at least

Once I saw you biking in Copenhagen😊

It's like Tish Reegan and the Venezuela-Denmark talk.

IMO, if the weather is decent, and not having to move anything heavier than a laptop, Bikes should generally be used for any trip less than 5 km. More than 5 km it can still be done, it's just less attracting imo. (It's when i'd personally look for a bus, train or a car)

Also cool story, one of the Earliest pedal motion bicycles was invented in Denmark. Called the "Væltepeter" directly translating to "Tipping Peter" it was not very safe too drive. Having a massive front wheel, very poorly balanced. But i rode nonetheless :)

We had several car manufacturers 100+ years ago. Last year a book was published by Erich Karsholt about this….have a look. I agree with the rest In your video.🎉😊

I think the problem with having, multiple cars in one household is also storing them. There is lack of parking in the big cities and some apartments come with parking, but at very high price. And a lot of town houses do not have garage. Also I think a lot of people choose the bike to avoid the long queues and traffic chaos in the morning and in the afternoon going home. I live 45 km from odense and it takes me 1 hour on the bus to get to the big city. There is no trains from where I live it stopped in 1966.

My family in Denmark technically has 2 cars, one is our own car that my mother and my sister drives, the other is my fathers work car, that is paid for by his employer.

Ambassadorships in the previous US Administration was nothing more than a grift for people with no qualifications but who wanted the position without the responsibility.