I want to ride a bike really bad, but cars have killed more cyclists in my city year over year my entire life.

It's just simply terrifying out there when a douche in an Escalade is in a hurry.

I stopped riding my motorcycle because of idiots in cars. No way in hell am I taking an electric bicycle to get groceries

If electric bikes were the only thing allowed on back roads, it would work great.

Edit: yeah, it would involve extreme changes to bike design so that they could carry more things, and there is always a need for a tractor, a semi hauling things, and moving vans.

I suppose for rural cycling to work safely, it would need a network of separate paths, plus some bike lanes attached to the roads in strategic places.

I don't think you understand what rural means. There were people who had to travel 1 hr+ by car to get to the local grocery store where I came from. An ebike isn't appropriate for places where you may need to travel 60+ miles, and/or in snow or bad conditions that might persist for weeks, and/or in ungodly hot / humid conditions that also persist for weeks. All three of those are true for decent swaths of the year in my area.

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. Electric bikes are a great solution for those that don't need to haul much or go far. Weather permitting of course. I sold my ICE sedan about a year ago and don't miss it.