Jack May and are
?? Bike lanes exist on only a tiny percentage of the roads in the US (thank goodness). The accident and rest rates for cyclists are very low on all those roads. Despite the fears of the uninformed, cycling is extremely safe - safer than walking near traffic, by some data.
vehicles traffic.
Astonishingly, drivers seem to be able to avoid things like telephone poles, street signs, parked cars, cars stopped and waiting to turn, etc. They also avoid pedestrians (despite their relatively chaotic movements). Avoiding a cyclist is comparatively easy. Again, the available data indicates this is true, and that motorists are quite successful at this. There is no great carnage involved with cycling.
Such misinformation! There are thousands of miles of US freeway that are open to cyclists. I've ridden hundreds of miles on them, perfectly legally and perfectly safely.
lanes
Not at all. I do this all the time - since, in my metropolitan area, there are no more than two miles of bike lanes.
There's no reason to think bikes and cars can't safely share a road, or most individual lanes. In my decades of experience as a cyclist (including a bike commuter) a slightly wide lane (say, 13 or 14 feet) can be very comfortably shared. A 12 foot lane can usually be shared, if the conditions are good. But even narrower lanes (say, 10 feet) cause few problems. I take the lane (as is permitted) but it's rare for me to delay traffic at all, because usually cars can just swing over the center line a bit to give adequate clearance.
When oncoming traffic won't allow that, the cars wait behind me for perhaps ten seconds until it's safe to go around. It causes no congestion, no emergency maneuvers, no crashes.
It's just not a big deal. Don't let your imagination run away with you. The roads we have work quite well for both cyclists and motorists.
The only problems come from those few who don't understand the rules. And I admit, some education would help both sides.
We all know there are plenty of cyclists and drivers who don't follow the rules. Unfortunately, there are also quite a few motorists who don't even know the rules, but who think they should be telling cyclists what to do!
Don't be one of those guys. Read up on lawful cycling. Even if you never use a bike, there's much to learn.