I'm not going to lie to you: One of the greatest days of my entire life was the day that I got my driver's license! Being able to hit the road in my family's 1977 Chevy Beauville van was instant freedom.
I'd roll the windows down, turn on the kickin' AM radio with a single speaker installed under the dashboard, listen to a riveting talk radio show and drive EVERYWHERE! It was so nice to be able to go somewhere without having to beg my mom and dad to take me that I didn't even mind driving my little sister to dance class!
That's why I was so worried about the bikes that I saw everywhere in Copenhagen. "Do the Danes even own cars?" I instantly wondered. "Could I live here without being able to drive?" So I did some asking around and found out that lots of people own cars...but very few own cars like the ones that you'll see driving around your neighborhood or sitting in the carpool lane at your school.
How are they different? Check out this video to learn more:
Whaddya' think? Do you admire Danish cars? Would your family be able to live in Denmark using the kinds of cars that most Danes are driving? Why or why not?
Better question: Is Denmark's policy of charing a ton of taxes for car owners a good idea? What would be the advantages of making big cars really expensive? What would the disadvantages be?
Best question: What are the biggest barriers preventing Americans from driving cars like the ones driven in Denmark? Is there anything we can do to fix that problem?
Leave a comment and share your thinking! I'm kind of jazzed to hear what you think about the Danemobiles that I had a chance to see in Copenhagen.
Signed,
Bam Bam Bigelow
Image retrieved from http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/cool_cars/image/4fordshelbygt500mustang.jpg on June 30, 2007
Mr. F asked: Is Denmark's policy of charging a ton of taxes for car owners a good idea? What would be the advantages of making big cars really expensive? What would the disadvantages be? I think one of the good things about charging a ton of taxes on cars is that smaller cars give off less pollution and that means helping prevent global warming. Another good thing is that if your family only owned one car, then you would have to bike/walk almost everywhere. If you live in Denmark you are most likely going to get your exercise just going about your day. It also makes them more independent with their resources because they don’t need to rely on the people that supply the oil which is great because most oil is found in the middle-east which is a unreliable area. (Most of the time)
Mr. F also asked: What are the biggest barriers preventing Americans from driving cars like the ones driven in Denmark? Is there anything we can do to fix that problem? I think one obvious problem about getting Americans to drive small cars is the fact that we have always had huge selection of cars and most Americans don’t want to give up that right. Plus, the USA also has a problem with the size of its people. I don’t thing that we could make the switch to riding bikes and walking everywhere we need to go. I think one thing we could to fix this is just put a huge tax on cars and the people are forced to get with the program. That way, they either sink or swim. I also would help with our pollution, and if we let the people know that, they may be more open to change.
pAiNtBaLl FrEaK
Posted by: pAiNtBaLl FrEaK | June 25, 2009 at 11:48 AM
I think the Danes are on the right track with using small cars that use less gas and release Co2 but in America I’m not sure if we could change but maybe my family would. I’m not sure if my family would give up their cars easily but over time we could problem own one because, my family is normally fit so we have no trouble riding bikes around. We would still use cars when we get groceries or when my dad goes to work but any thing else that you wouldn’t really need a car for we could problem live with.
The other problem is we wouldn’t move to using a BMW but still use a Honda Pilot or something that can hold 1 kid 1 teen and 2 adults. I think most fit Americans could change but we can’t all own Peruses or electric cars but if the government enforced it more then mast of us could pull it off with just a lager car.
I was wondering if the US made a law like the one in Denmark would the people be affected and spend more money of their cars and get rid of one of their cars or would they think this was a horrible law and we couldn’t do it?
wm
Posted by: Wyatt Miller | June 25, 2009 at 11:26 AM
I think the Danes are on the right track with using small cars that use less gas and release Co2 but in America I’m not sure if we could change but maybe my family would. I’m not sure if my family would give up their cars easily but over time we could problem own one because, my family is normally fit so we have no trouble riding bikes around. We would still use cars when we get groceries or when my dad goes to work but any thing else that you wouldn’t really need a car for we could problem live with.
The other problem is we wouldn’t move to using a BMW but still use a Honda Pilot or something that can hold 1 kid 1 teen and 2 adults. I think most fit Americans could change but we can’t all own Peruses or electric cars but if the government enforced it more then mast of us could pull it off with just a lager car.
I was wondering if the US made a law like the one in Denmark would the people be affected and spend more money of their cars and get rid of one of their cars or would they think this was a horrible law and we couldn’t do it?
-wm
Posted by: Wyatt Miller | June 25, 2009 at 11:24 AM
I think that small vehicles would actually really help our dependence on oil and we would start to find different means of energy because of the high gas prices.
-aw
Posted by: Austin w. | July 05, 2007 at 02:24 PM