It's a fact that we have to live in the world as it is, not as we would like it to be. Tips for surviving as a cyclist are not incompatible with trying to change things, but one may make the world a better place in twenty years while the other keeps you alive today. The trouble is when people behave as though that world already existed. It may be frustrating, but people absolutely are ignorant and lazy and that absolutely can kill you. Asserting your rights is great, but better to do it politically than on the road in a way that can get you killed.
The problem is that a lot people bring the same level of self-centeredness to biking as they do to driving. Same bad habits and assuming the fault is on someone else.
Yes, operating a 2-ton vehicle is a giant responsibility. But as a biker, to expect that 2-ton vehicle to magically disobey the laws of physics and stop for you is just as careless. Give cars space, and maybe don't be in a car's blind spot at an intersection. Have you seen the number of people trying to squeeze by a bus on Market Street? Why?
(I say this as someone who's biked in SF for 7 years and stayed alive because I understand that it's dangerous to bike in this city. It would be lovely to live in a Dutch wonderland, but we live in the U.S. of fucking A., where everyone's got to be somewhere before someone else, so one needs to bike defensively here.)
