I LOVE this idea. Don't want your precious car scratched, then give 3 feet. My street has no sidewalks and cars constantly exceeding the 25mph limit. I'm pretty sure I could damage some vehicles doing nothing more than holding my house keys sideways in my hands as I walk/run. Drivers truly don't care about anything outside their windshield.

They were actively riding into lanes and hitting cars.

Cyclists will often ride between rows of cars that are stopped at a traffic light in an effort to get to the front, probably assuming that the 3 feet law doesn't apply in that case.

Cyclists don't have to be toxic for the whole setup to not work, they just have to not obey the same laws that are in place for cars. Where I live, I'm more likely to be hit by a cyclist on a pedestrian crossing than by a car.

What a strange double standard. Presuming your anecdote is true (and statistically, it isn't), your greatest risk is minor injury if hit by a cyclist, while that's the best possible outcome from an interaction with a car.

And no, cyclists don't often ride between lines of cars. Some cyclists do that. Just like some drivers are reckless jerks.

Every group has bad actors. I'd even wager both groups -- cyclists and drivers -- have the same percentage of morons.

You seem to be claiming that all cyclists have to be saints "for the setup to work", which is bizarre. The rules in most cities in the US clearly prioritize cars over people. As plenty of other cities around the world have demonstrated, changing those priorities changes behavior.

In SF, I see cyclists jumping traffic lights, ignoring STOP signs, not giving right of way to pedestrians in the cross walk etc. etc.. In my anecdotal experience I see more cyclists breaking traffic laws everyday than cars. I havent felt the same way in other American or European cities, so its possible this is an SF only thing.

From my experience, it's all too common in Boston, too. Zero regard for traffic signs, lights, or pedestrian activity. It's usually the couriers that ride unsafely.

In London riding to the front is actually encouraged, if I understand local traffic mores right. (And it seems like the sensible thing in any case.)