Where did you get the impression that European countries do this on a large enough scale to matter*? There are separate bike roads in some cities, but they tend to end abruptly and lead straight into traffic at places where nobody expects cyclists to appear or show similar acts of genius in their design. If you photograph just the right sections, they definitely look neat. But integrating car and bike traffic in a crowded city is a non-trivial problem; especially in Europe where roads tend to follow winding goat paths from the Dark Ages and are way too narrow for today's traffic levels already.

While the plural of anecdote is not data, two of my friends suffered serious head trauma in a bicycle accident they never fully recovered from (without a helmet, they'd likely be dead), while nobody I know personally ever was in a severe car accident. And quick search also seems to indicate that cycling is about as dangerous as driving (with both of them paling by comparison to motorcycles...).

*with the possible exception of the Netherlands, but even for them I'm not sure.

Well it certainly isn't denial. As proof I'd offer up my lack of any kind of driving license or vehincle ownership throughout my life.

The idea itself is not what is bad for society. The badness here is the political-ish applying of an idea without thinking through the consequences and dealing with them.

I would certainly not encourage keeping any ideas secret, for then how would the corollaries be resolved?

This comment seems to have suddenly go at lot of attention, despite the fact that I am reasonably sure this thread is about semi-offensive/semi-joking comments and that my past self posted it in that spirit.

Man, sometimes your mental state moves so fast you can look a month back and thing "What an idiot."

I do still hold the opinion that suburban housing is ecologically and economically unsustainable, taking up potential farmland and forcing large parts of the population to acquire automobiles that pollute and require large amounts of raw materials to construct.

EDIT: Maybe I should just make it a habit to retract stuff I said when I disagree with my past self.

it is quantifiably more awesome to live in highrise buildings in the city.

Value systems differ.

Suburbs are the scum of the earth.

Clichés are the mould of the mind.

ETA: I just noticed that "mould" has two meanings. I meant the nasty stuff that grows in unattended, dark, damp places.

That's an interesting quote. There are probably other ways to achieve the same fitness benefits though.

Even in Europe, places where you don't have to drive in traffic / door zone are incredibly rare. Bike paths are cool, but as currently implemented they mostly serve to annoy both drivers and pedestrians alike, and there is still a default assumption that where there is no bike path, you'll be driving with traffic.