I see the land of the brave is also full of fear. That is unfortunate.
My take on this is incremental. Can you start off by driving partway, and biking the rest? 8 miles is quite a respectable distance for a start, and I'd be intimidated too, especially if I had'n been cycling for a long time. When I first started cycle-commuting, my wife and I would carpool to a point about 4 miles from my office, and then I would hop out and ride the last bit in. This worked well because I was able to get familiar with the bit furthest from home and figure out where the infrastructure for cycling was. (HINT: one of the best ways to take the fear out of cycle commuting is finding the paths and parks that remove you from traffic). On days my wife wasn't available, I parked at a WalMart and still rode in.
The part-commute had a two-fold benefit. First, I got the experience and network building of actually riding in, and second, it got my coworkers talking and encouraging me.
If you can start by shortening the ride and then figuring out how to build alternate networks and different routes you may be able to find a way to work that is better.
Once you start ditching the car, another phenomenon will happen - you will discover the other folks who are regular riders. With some luck, you can build up a group of riders. Having a set of 3 or 4 people riding together creates a safer "pack" which drivers can see, plus the camaraderie of riding together is nice and encouraging. Even if none of the other riders are on your route, you will become part of a sort of brotherhood, which feeds into the "build your tribe" mentality that MMM talks about.
Further to all this, most municipalities are trying to encourage utility cycling right now. I bet if you call your town hall and ask what resources are available to cyclists, you will get at a minimum a map and some safety guidance. You should ask them for advice on routing. The traffic department knows which roads get the most safety complaints and can help you discover new routes.
I like the stuff we have here in the Toronto area for beginner cycle-commuters, you can see the guidance for beginner cycle-commuters here:
http://smartcommute.ca/bike/getting-started/ - most people start off by doing practice runs to work early on a Sunday morning when there is virtually no traffic. This is to figure out riding time and the sweat factor. Then start riding in once per week as they build up cardio/strength. Eventually you will build up from there. Don't go in whole hog unless you are already a seasoned rider.
[EDIT TO ADD - if you trust me enough to PM your trip ends (where you start/end) I'll see if I can find you some network connections, or I'll reach out to your cycling advocacy groups to see if they know of routing you may not be aware of.) /EDIT]
Caveats/disclosures:1. I am a traffic engineer who killed their commute in order to save money. I cycle because I'm cheap. By cycling I removed myself from the world of road safety engineering (morbid) and into the world of cycle network planning (fun!). I now get paid to ride my bike around the city looking for ways to make it more fun to ride my bike around the city. Pretty good gig.
2. Because I believe we lead by doing, I took my 9 year old on a 450 km bike ride last summer (Toronto to Ottawa) and he loved it so much, we are going to NYC this summer (see link in signature). I often point out that if a 9 yr old can do these ride in major cities, most adults can too. Its all about route planning, being predictable, and knowing the basics of road safety.