The average bike weighs about 20 pounds while the automobile comes in at about 4,000.

Yet both are allowed to share many of the same roads, along with other modes of transportation of varying sizes and speeds: pedestrians, tractors, mopeds and horses.

For the most part, there is harmony in the bustle of our daily mobility. But as a recent MLive story pointed out, there was a staggering spike in statewide bicyclist fatalities last year. Michigan State Police accident data shows fatalities involving bicyclists surged 57 percent in 2015. The 33 deaths mark the heaviest death toll in at least 18 years.

Nowhere has this trend been felt more tragically than Kalamazoo, where five bicyclists were killed and four critically wounded by the allegedly drugged driver of a pickup truck in early June.

The statistics and the Kalamazoo incident are both evidence that the conflict between cars and bikes on Michigan roadways has reached a crisis point. There's got to be a better way.

Rise of the bike

The bicycle, the car and America all came of age in roughly the same era, the 19th and 20th centuries. While bikes were a great transportation solution to some of the old, sprawling cities around the world, many of our younger cities were built around the car.

Out in the suburbs, Dad or Mom commuted to the city for work on the highways. Bikes were for kids.

But that's been changing in the last couple decades as bicycling continues to ascend in popularity as both a sport and mode of transportation. In car-clogged big cities, this makes sense, especially with younger people. It's cheap, healthy and environmentally clean.

In some big cities like Chicago, you can get around quicker on a bike than by using public transit. It's prompted cities large and small to take a more bike-friendly stance.

There's also been a biking boom in the suburbs, with more and more people turning to it for hobby and recreation.

I live in Washtenaw County where on any given summer weekend the rural two-lane highways are filled with road bicyclists, the serious folks in Spandex, colorful biking shirts and helmets with rearview monocle mirrors attached.

I'm all about people getting out and enjoying themselves in a healthy way, but it does create a driving challenge, especially when there is a large group of six or more cyclists. Let's say you're driving down a two-lane highway with a limited shoulder and all of a sudden there are ten people on bikes forcing you to slow down to their speed and wait until it's safe to pass.

It can be a harrowing experience for both driver and cyclist. I always slow down and give as much room as possible when passing. This might be par for the course if you're the type of driver who does a lot of passing on two-lane highways to begin with, but I'm not.

So, usually when I've made my pass, I'm wiping the sweat from my brow, relieved that I made it without injuring anyone.

Sometimes I've felt that it would be easier and safer if those cyclists just weren't there at all.

Monsters of the road

We've become complacent in our cars, zipping from one place to the next with mindless confidence. We eat, talk, grab toys for kids in the backseat, text, put on makeup and flip between radio stations.

Our ultra-comfortable automobiles have led to a huge disconnect between our minds (singing along to Mariah Carey) and our bodies (inside a large piece of metal, plastic, rubber and glass going 90 mph on a highway). We feel like our cars and trucks are a safe haven.

Besides distractions, drivers are already facing a lot of threats on the road with other vehicles. It's only natural for a driver to not pay as much respect to the 20-pound bike as they would an 80,000-pound semitrailer. Where a semi would cream a car, a bike might not even leave a dent.

Driving engages our fight or flight responses. If you're in a Honda Accord, you're going to back down to a Big Mack truck, but not necessarily a BMX.

For the past couple days, I rode in both urban and rural environments to gain a better perspective on what bicyclists experience.

I can tell you, it's not for the faint of heart.

I work in Ann Arbor, a very bike-friendly town. Not only are there plenty of bike lanes, but also plenty of other bicyclists visibly riding around at any given time. There is power in numbers.

Still, you can tell many people in cars aren't paying attention to bicyclists. Those white lines demarcating the bike lane from the car lane aren't going to keep out someone texting and driving at the same time.

It's a little bit more hairy out on the rural roads. Being passed by a Ford F-350 can feel like being overtaken by a monster. The wind is almost enough to knock you over, accompanied by a furious "Star Wars" TIE-Fighter whoosh.

In both scenarios, I can attest to feeling small, vulnerable and insignificant. I could sense the motorists' mindless confidence emanating through their windshields. It was scary.

I definitely see it both ways, now.

What do we do?

So, before we can talk more about what can be done, I'm going to lay down some basic bike rules and suggestions, courtesy of the League of Michigan Bicyclists.

Bikes operate under the same general rules as all moving vehicles, including cars and trucks. This means if you're on a bike, you have to honor red lights, stop signs, yield signs, etc. Sometimes this feels wrong to those of us who grew up cruising around on bikes as kids not paying attention to any of that stuff. You cannot ride on a highway (thought I'm not sure why you would want to). It's dangerous to ride on the sidewalk and sometimes illegal. Stay as far to the right as possible, unless you're on a one-way street. The current law states that automobiles are required to pass at a safe distance, which is not specified. Use hand signals when turning. Ride with traffic, not against it. Get lights and anything else that increases your visibility.

The LMB also has some suggestions for motorists:

Yield to a bicyclist when required. Don't turn in front of bikes. Don't open up your door without looking to see if a bicyclist is coming.

And here are my personal suggestions for motorists:

Think about the world around you, not just yourself. Don't text. You are not the king of the road. Don't stare at your phone instead of the road. If you think you're in a hurry, you shouldn't be. Put your phone away. In the scheme of things, where you need to be isn't that important. That television show you're rushing home to see will be on again. You probably have On Demand, anyway.

The Michigan Legislature is poised to address two issues of bike safety, too. One law would impose stiffer penalties on drivers who hit "vulnerable roadway users." The other would set a five-foot passing rule.

I recently spoke with state Sen. Margaret O'Brien (R-Kalamazoo), who is sponsoring some of the legislation in the state Senate. The bills had already been introduced in the House, but O'Brien wanted to make sure they got more attention after the five bicyclists were killed in her district.

Listen to her entire interview here:

"When this tragedy occurred, I just felt it was important to show my support -- she said. "We wanted to show that this issue is important."

O'Brien said if the bills were passed, lawmakers would work to make sure the new laws were taught in driver's training.

I think this is a good start, but if we want roadways safe for everyone, more than just laws will have to change.

The way we think about driving will also have to change.

This is an opinion column by John Counts, a writer on MLive's Impact Team.