My son lived in Germany for a year. His observation was that cars weren't that critical because "they're just going around the corner anyway". Meaning, a more compact city with more local stores, as opposed to driving 20 miles to Walmart. I have read elsewhere that in Amsterdam, everyone rides bikes, but they're all riding 8 mph, too, so it's hard to compare statistics with the US. And of course, the drivers are different, etc.