@DoesHePlayTheFiddle
Nobody wants to kill cyclists. That's why they shouldn't be on the roads. No-one wants to injure them. Everyone can see how horrifically vulnerable they are. They choose to be there, choose to cause a hazard for all other road users. It's reckless, arrogant, and should be illegal. If I took a dance team onto the highway in rush hour traffic, you'd think I was mad and the authorities would turn up to move us along. Cyclists should be able to reason for themselves that roads are not safe places to be. But they don't. They insist on their right to be there. Reckless, foolhardy and an unnecessary distraction and hazard.
I started cycling to work because my car died and I couldn't afford to fix it (or pay bus fares). So I got a cheap second-hand bike and cycled all year round. It made me very fit, especially as the bike weighed a ton!
However, it could be really hard, especially in winter. The A259 heading east from Brighton now has a cycle path, but back then you had the choice of either cycling on the dual carriageway or on a narrow pathway full of potholes. Traffic on the stretch past Roedean typically went at 60mph or more and it was particularly scary in winter with strong winds and rain. Ovingdean roundabout acts like a wind tunnel and I literally got blown off my bike a couple of times!
Other hazards are broken glass in the road, drivers opening car doors without looking, badly fitted drains, slippery drain covers, etc.
An alternative route was the undercliff, but back then they hadn't rebuilt it and in winter whole chunks of the concrete would be washed away, leaving sudden chasms! Shells are also very sharp. I often had to stop in the dark to fix a puncture.
When I cycled on the road I wasn't "insisting on my right to be there", I was just choosing the least dangerous (but still terrifying) option. Looking back, I can't quite believe I managed to make this journey safely for so many years. There were plenty of smaller accidents and near misses.
The ideal solution is proper cycle paths, but the road system in UK towns makes this difficult because the whole arrangement is medieval and not designed for cars, let alone an extra lane, however narrow.