It's worth it to drive with bike and go somewhere else safer to bike. If not a group, with your hubby. Or solo.

Your neighbourhood does seem difficult in terms of road design.

That's awful about your neighbour-friend. I'm sorry to hear that fatality.

Every time I've fallen off the bike....it has been on black ice, I hesitate in cycling style (which is not good) for first few days and tend to stick to quieter routes /bike paths.
Actually in fact, my daily riding is 70% on bike paths or in bike lanes.... I deliberately design routes because as a daily cyclist I need to reduce my daily exposure to cars when living in a big city.

(I know that many people here pan MUPs....I choose bike routes involving them, often during lower peak hrs.... my start and end time at work, is deliberately designed that way to avoid heavy MUP use. Same for shopping on weekends. I grocery/farmers' market shop within the first 1-2 hrs. the outlet is open....to avoid peak MUP traffic, as well as heavy shopping crowds.)