Just to clarify. You go slower or you stay away. Your don't have to do both. The ideia is to be far enough that the bike toppling to the side doesn't result in a cyclist under your car, or that hitting the cyclist is at a relative low speed.
And I honestly see more drivers overreacting to things that would just dent or scratch their cars than cyclists losing control when they have their lives endangered.
I guess people from a post capitalist society might have issues with exploiting others for their own gain.