Yes, this happens with a lot of people, they are just not used of using the roads, in her case she didn't grow up in a big city, so fear takes over, but it's a little irrational IMO, just a matter of taking care while riding.
I used to ride everywhere on a bike when I lived in a college town-and they had trails going all around the city-but they were kind of hidden. It was really easy to get around back in the day,and pretty fast at that. You could save up a little money and always get a really nice bike-and that was the fun part-I also had a car to get out of town as well. These days though-I moved outside the city to own some property in a small village type of town maybe 20 years ago-but its really easy to get around this smaller town because it has everything you need within a small bike trip. Also it is made up of a lot of parks-but its a piece of cake getting around this village and shopping for groceries.
In my opinion, travelling by bicycle is the best way to commute. Not only are you saving the environment, you're also getting a decent workout. The only downfall of commuting by bicycle, I suppose, is the fact that the roads are inhabited by reckless and inconsiderate drivers. Oh well.
I used to enjoy bike riding but I have opted to not be involved in that type of activity anymore. It isn't a wise idea anymore to go biking around my city, a few people still do it, but I will not chance it because of the nightmarish traffic conditions. There have been numerous accidents around the city which in spite of efforts by the authorities to reduce the number mishaps, injury, and death, the statistics show that numbers keep on increasing every year.
