I'm not going to make a lot of friends by saying this, but most of the articles I read in the newspaper about a cyclist getting hit by a car, the cyclist did something that contributed to the accident - for example, riding the wrong way, or without lights at night. Also, bicyclist fatalities tend to be more newsworthy, and a higher percentage of them show up in my local newspaper as compared to auto fatalities. I doubt all of the 40,000 auto fatalities per year make it into the newspapers. The Dilemmas of Bicycle Planning has a good discussion about this. In all states, cyclists have the rights and responsibilities of vehicle drivers.
Cyclists fare best when they act as a vehicle when they are cycling on the road.
If I had to pick only one factor to concentrate on to improve cycling safety it would be cyclist education. Staying on bike paths and avoiding roads at all costs is not the answer. Even if I wanted to stay off the road, it would be impossible, since I don't live and work on a bike path. In the US bike paths do not currently go to every potential destination, nor is it practical to spend the money to do so. Riding on some paths that are parallel to the road can be dangerous, since this puts cyclists directly in the path of driveways and right turning motorists.