First off, I just noticed my title might be too generalizing, that was not at all my intention, I just tried to write a short title but I guess it got too short. I mainly just wanted to get the story confirmed and then generally hear about how the situation was.
In Denmark we got tons of bike-paths, even on highways between towns someplaces and if there's not an extension on the side of the tarmac on the inside of the car-lane stripe for bikes (marked with a wide stripe to be easily identified) then bikes are allowed to ride single-file on the inner side of the road unless specifically forbidden and that's only special-priority highways and freeways in general where there's also a minimum speedlimit and no stopping on the road. If you're driving in a car and there is a bike on the road then as long as that bike is driving normally to the right side of the tarmac and you can't safely overtake then it's the driver's duty to slow down and stay behind the bike until he/she can safely overtake. Sadly many overtake over lines indicating no overtaking and right in front of oncomming cars/trucks but that's the law and it works fine that way. Bikes are however not allowed to drive two or more side-by-side if they don't have a specific section on the road or a seperate bike-path.
In Denmark many bike-riders drive over the crosswalk against the flow of traffic (2 illegal actions in one) and ignore red light, and some places there are even bicycle lights in the inner cities so the regulated intersection is made to ease bike and pedestrian traffic.
I'm incapable of riding a bike anymore, mainly due to my kneejoints not liking the movement-range (10 years ago I had a bike and had to crack my kneejoint into place before I could pedal, and with my broad shoulders I was heavily slowed down by even small wind-gusts, from 30 down to 18 kph). I don't mind people that enjoy bike-rides or ride a bike to shop, go to work, study etc. as long as they follow the rules (as long as the rules are made to ease traffic flow and safety which they are over here, and if the rules don't work, then get them changed). I do know that some people can't use a bike or a bus for transportation for one reason or another, maybe they need parcels or other that can't be taken with them in a bus or on a bike but I don't mind any kind of transportation as long as one behaves well and act safely. Some did make a calculation that bicycle-riders use more energy on a bike than in a car but things aren't that complicated. Electric cars powered by coal-plants also polute, and then there's the energy for manufacturing, but bicycles and electric cars are quieter and emit less polution inside the city and that both gives improvements in health for city-people. For inner-city traffic then cars shared by people to only need a vehicles once in a while and that can be parked in special centers of cities could also help as well as bike-lanes and bike-parking. In Denmark there is a service where you can join a kind of club and you can loan a car and park it again at certain places and that way one can use a car, but don't need to own it so several people can share one car so fewer cars owned, less parking-spaces needed.
Denmark also had rental-bikes, special bikes you could get by using a deposit like a shopping-cart at the supermarket, and people could return them to several places in Copenhagen when they were done.
I need a car, but I know what I don't need also so all kinds of stuff that just add weight and requires more service, repairs and fuel will be taken out. I've driven in danish summers in a black car with black and dark blue interior and no AC and I survived so I don't need AC as long as I live here, and then I plan on getting a white or silver car. I've driven a car weighing 2300 lbs without powersteering and I had no problems with it and that system uses power and thus fuel both directly and indirectly (weight) and I could go on. There are things to do in the world one just has to think it through.
In Denmark they made a wooden test-house with re-designed structure and paper-insulation that didn't need a specific heating-system, in Denmark with frost! Solar-panels furthermore gave all electricity needed inside, now that's cool. I don't know how much energy is required to construct this compared to a normal house but considering how long a house lasts then I think it has to be negligable.
Btw, while I like driving I also like to get out and walk around in a forrest both to get a closer view and feel the sun, air, smell the trees and get some excercise as well. Great combination of experiences I think.
Frank