Familiarity and it being a more normalized part of their society. I compare it to people who live in big cities and learning how to drive safely at high rates of speed while weaving in and out of lanes within literal inches of the next car on the freeways. To us small town country folk, it baffles our little linear simple minds how folks who live in Atlanta, Ga, Houston, TX and other similar cities drive like that and not have massive fatalities everyday on the road ways. But it's what y'all big timers are used to. You get used to it and it becomes no big deal. I have two cousins who live in Atlanta and have ridden in the vehicle with them. I told them they ought to seriously think about driving a Formula 1 car because they are more than qualified to do so. LOL!same with atlanta, it has always had a huge number of cyclists.
i go to berlin every february for work and am always amazed at the number folks riding to work in freezing rain, sub 0 (c) temps, and other nasty weather, like it's any normal day. and the bikes, cars, and peds all function together very well.
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