Just assume that Bob is going to have an accident on his bike today. Would you rather see him struck by a car and become a likely fatality, or see him hit a pedestrian and cause a few scrapes and bruises? Why would you unnecessarily force people into a potentially deadly situation for the crime of riding a bicycle?
It's also extremely uncommon for cyclists to hit pedestrians, and even more uncommon for those collisions to lead to a fatality. There's just not enough kinetic energy involved. Joggers are nearly as likely to bowl someone over and kill them.
If you're scared of bicycles maybe you should stay indoors. There's things like squirrels and pigeons out there that might attack you.
This makes them unsuitable for commuting or serious cycling.
To make it a viable form of personal transport it's better to keep cyclists on the roads.
Well, I'm a bit split between getting off the bike (and walking next to it), or cycling at a walking pace (and taking up less space). Depends on the situation, really.
This means waiting for a walk light at the crossing, and not cycling into the road at above a walking pace even if it happens to already be green.
This is just common sense, really.