I'm from the Netherlands, where separate bike lanes are the norm. The thought of having to share the road with cars, especially in a place where people aren't used to bike traffic, terrifies me.
Also, IIRC when a car hits pedestrian or bike, the car is always the "guilty" party because pedestrians or bikes are never a safety threat to cars (you can still be acquitted if it is clear that there's no way you could have prevented the crash). Does the US have something like that to promote cautious driving habits?
The thought of having to share the road with cars, especially in a place where people aren't used to bike traffic, terrifies me
It should terrify you. It's terrifying. I know dozens of people who regularly commute by bike in the ostensibly bike-friendly city of Seattle. Nearly all of them have been hit by a car at some point.
I'm in SF and I've been hit twice. Once in Berkeley and once in SF. The thing that bothers me the most is that the police are very non-chalant about the whole affair. They refused to fill out a police report unless someone was hurt. This means that both of my accidents didn't show up on the official statistics for number of bike accidents in the city.
Hmm, is Seattle an "ostensibly bike-friendly" city?
Granted it's probably not as bad as many other American cities, but for all Seattle's often rather liberal laid-back nature, Seattleites also seem to lovvvve their cars, and the state of public infrastructure to reflect that.
I used to bike a lot in Seattle about 25 years ago, and well ... I always felt very alone, and often very nervous. I felt part of a fringe. My impression was that although there generally wasn't the sort of overt "kill bicyclists!" aggression you might find elsewhere, Seattle was still very much a car-focused city, and that few concessions were made to bicyclists, other than the random token gesture (bike racks on buses, etc). There seemed to be essentially zero real bike infrastructure.
Maybe things have changed in the last few decades, I dunno. I haven't noticed much obvious change when I've visited since, although the bike cops are great (they're the friendliest police I've ever encountered!).
> ... when a car hits pedestrian or bike, the car is always the "guilty" party.... Does the US have something like that to promote cautious driving habits?
> In NYC, drivers are seldom cited at all even when a cyclist or pedestrian has been killed.
Your link does not say that drivers are ‘seldom cited’; it says that drivers are cited slightly over half the time. A priori, an even split in responsibility across all cases seems perfectly reasonable.
"The NYC group Right of Way says: 'After NYC cycling fatalities increased twofold in 1999, police rushed to cover their, er, reputation by claiming (without analysis or supporting data) that cyclists are to blame in 75% of cycling deaths. ... The truth is just the reverse, as listed in our report, The Only Good Cyclist (PDF).' According to Right of Way, over 90% of pedestrian deaths in NYC are the fault of drivers. And research from Toronto shows the same thing for car-bike crashes. Most at-fault motorists who kill cyclists and pedestrians get off the hook. A study by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition shows that three out of four at fault drivers were never even cited for hitting and killing pedestrians. 22% of fatal pedestrian crashes involved hit and run drivers, yet, none of the runaway motorists were found or charged. In New York, 70-92% of drivers were at-fault in killing pedestrians and cyclists, but 74% didn't even get a ticket. (RightOfWay.org, 1999) The story in Austin is similar."
Some recent headlines about how NYPD handles car-and-bike collisions:
"Another Cyclist Killed at East Harlem Intersection, NYPD Again Blames Victim"
"Motorist Havoc: Two Dead, Five Hurt, Kids in Critical Condition, No Charges"
"Cleared in Traffic Court, Hit-and-Run Killer Still Employed at NYC DOT"
"Leroy Comrie Bill Would Force NYPD to Report to Council on Hit-and-Runs"
"Hynes: No Charges for Curb-Jumper Who Blew Red and Killed Pedestrian"
"NYPD: Pedestrian Killed Himself by Running Into Stopped Police Cruiser"
"Cyclist’s Brother Says NYPD Closed Investigation Into Unsolved Death"
"Immune From Prosecution, Curb-Jumping NYC Motorists Claim More Victims"
"Irvin Gitlitz, 83, Was First of Two Pedestrian Fatalities Wednesday" (which notes, "The truck involved in the crash that killed Irvin Gitlitz did not have required crossover mirrors. The driver was not summonsed," and for the second fatality, "No summonses were issued")
Also, IIRC when a car hits pedestrian or bike, the car is always the "guilty" party because pedestrians or bikes are never a safety threat to cars (you can still be acquitted if it is clear that there's no way you could have prevented the crash). Does the US have something like that to promote cautious driving habits?