The issue is negligible with bicycles since they can generally avoid distracted pedestrians unlike cars, and even then they are equipped with bells for that specific purpose.
People here tend to walk in middle of the road in smaller one-way streets and move aside when they hear engine noise. More then once I've been startled by electric cars quietly creeping behind me.
The US doesn't spend less on social welfare then most European countries per capita [1], it actually spends more than Netherlands and Japan who are renowned for their public transport.