Bicycle lanes, at least in my experience in the UK, are almost universally pointless (lanes and tracks through parks are generally OK.)
Riding on the road is always safer, because the highway code actually applies there. You just become a slow car, you have right of way at roundabouts etc. Be considerate and pull to the left when you can. Sorted.
On roads that are too narrow to cycle without completely blocking traffic I generally use the footpath at slow speeds (e.g. 6-8mph, just rolling along).
On super fast roads (limit 50 and above) generally unless it's late at night and quiet I would just try to find an alternative route.
I don't think anything needs to happen other than more drivers cycling and more cyclists driving, to enable empathy. Everything else is just fluff.
I don't bike anymore ( got rid of my last bike during a move ). I certainly wasn't comfortable in high density mixed USA suburban traffic.
The cognitive load on drivers for just motorcycles is pretty high. Bicycles make it even more complex.
From just watching what people do in cars with other cars, I am skeptical that even rudimentary driving safety is widely understood. Turn signals are rarely used, nobody preserves their intervals and people form patterns in traffic they can't recover from.
I haven't been to the US, but my stereotypical picture is wide, sweeping grid like roads, which result in drivers going fast.
The UK isn't really like that especially in metro areas. In London the highway code plays second fiddle to a general 'be alert all the time and be courteous' type system.
I think that cycling properly (not just at the side forever) on roads where drivers aim to be hitting 40mph constantly is a dream, really. Too high a speed difference.
In inner London, though, likely you will be cycling 10-20mph while cars drive at 20-30mph. Is that not the case in NYC for example? Are your roads just too straight and easy to use so drivers gun it? (It's well known that narrow roads result in unconscious slowing).
Riding on the road is always safer, because the highway code actually applies there. You just become a slow car, you have right of way at roundabouts etc. Be considerate and pull to the left when you can. Sorted.
On roads that are too narrow to cycle without completely blocking traffic I generally use the footpath at slow speeds (e.g. 6-8mph, just rolling along).
On super fast roads (limit 50 and above) generally unless it's late at night and quiet I would just try to find an alternative route.
I don't think anything needs to happen other than more drivers cycling and more cyclists driving, to enable empathy. Everything else is just fluff.