My last few rides I haven't had anyone making a concerted effort to kill me - maybe it's the predominantly rural nature of the rides.

3ft - geez, I know some riders who are that wide! The expectance this side of the pond for new lanes is a minimum 1.5m but ideally 2m. Of course, in many urban streets that date back maybe 1000 years this is completely impossible - the usual answer has been to ban motorised traffic!
I think a lot of the atitude iand road craft issues are a result of lack of training and experience but also how bikes are often marketed. Here in the UK we used to have bike training in Junior schools, it happens again now but for @ 30 years there was none. That's a whole generation who are now encouraged to ride but have likely not ridden since pre teen age.
Again, in the past most 'serious' riders would have ridden with a club and learned skills there, these days that is very much a small %. It's certainly where I learnt many of my skills. This lack of skill is the cause of most accidents in mass participation events and yes, on shared cycle paths.

Safer to run a red - well yes but again experience and location are part of the equation. Approaching a light that changes quickly, especially in the wet, can be a proper lottery. Jam the brakes on and hope you can stop safely and without the car behind running into you as he's gonna jump anyhow. A split second decision, is it less dangerous to keep going than try stopping? In this situation I might well run the red. That's quite different to just blatantly riding through every light - i've seen people doing that, how Darwins Law hasn't been reinforced heavens knows.

In Europe riding 2 abreast is allowed, its actually safer than being staggered or in line when traffic wants to pass. For starters, they can see you easier, the so called IDSY effect is reduced. Yes traffic has to pass wider (hopefully) but that's certainly safer than pushing past through too small gaps. And of course, in the case of bigger groups would you rather pass the length of say 20 riders or 10?

Riding to the right (or left as appropriate) does not mean riding in the gutter! The correct position should be @ 1m out in the curbside wheel track of 4 wheel users. This will normally keep you out of the drains, holes and debris but also aid in reducing dangerous passes. This isn't always practical or possible for all manner of reasons. One good reason not to tailgate bikes, we may have to dodge, quite late, potholes / ironworks, either that or end up eating tarmac. (I must admit to getting a bit of air at times to clear such imperfections but that's not always possible and let's face it, most riders don't have the skillz!)

Over here roads are open to all traffic unless expressly forbidden. So in the UK (and the rest of Europe) bicycles and vehicles under 50cc are barred from motorways but except in a few special instances (like tunnels and motorway links) I can ride my bike on any other road. The national speed limit is the same on all roads unless signed differently so even a tiny country lane has the same 70mph limit as a motorway - it might not be safe or advisable but that's how it stands. There are certainly some roads where I can, on my bike break the posted speed limit but in the UK i've never come close to the National limit!

So I repeat, please when driving think about quite why the bike is making that unexpected move. Now kids on off pavements etc, that's something else altogether but most drivers just see the bike and make the jump to all bike riders ignore the law in the same breath.

It is rather ironic that in the UK the cycling demographic has pretty much come full circle from rich man's play thing to transport of the masses and back to expensive playthings! Of the whole population, those in the lowest income bracket are those least likely to ride even for transport.

And so I conclude the lesson for today. Lol