You make excellent points, but in US law they are considered vehicles, and subject to the same rules of stop lights, stop signs, and waiting-in-line as automobiles.
Many, many bicyclists don't understand this, however, and run red lights and stop signs seemingly at will.
This never really bothered me until I had kids and was teaching them how to ride. I would always point out (because I knew they saw) when someone would bike illegally, in hopes that they would learn right from wrong.
As a counter-example, just two days ago a man was bicycling with two young children at a time when parents were dropping kids off at school (so, presumably he was taking them to school). I was driving a car down a road and passed them on my way to take a left turn. As I was waiting for traffic to clear for my turn (here in the US, to make a left turn I have to wait for a break in oncoming traffic), he and the kids came up on my right and started to ride in a pedestrian crosswalk (illegal- they are vehicles, not pedestrians) at that intersection that passed in front of my car. The man came within a few (maybe 10) feet of the front of my car before I made my turn. I only saw him at the last instant (a quick, reflexive check to my right, because I had already ascertained that there were no pedestrians).
I hope I scared him. I hope even more that I scared his kids who undoubtedly saw the event. I hope he had a long talk with his kids afterward.
But the real point I want him to understand is that if some child dies because they learned unsafe bicycling from watching his behavior, he is partly responsible for the child's death. Part of our jobs as adults in society is to demonstrate proper behavior for those in the process of learning it.
On my bike, I occasionally take refuge in cross walks in order to check cross-traffic. After reading your post, I'll look into the specific statues applicable to this practice.
I taught my kids to get off of the bike and walk it at cross-walks. I would be very surprised if they still do that because so few folks do.
He obtained the license plate number, and the driver was convicted of assult. Also, if you are intentionally run off the road by a vehicle, it can be considered assault with a deadly weapon.
If someone threw something at me, the police would have the license plate number so fast it'd be scary. Littering is a $500 fine.
That'd be assault, on top of littering.
I wish I would have got license plate numbers. The cars were usually too far ahead by the time I realized what happened.
An acquaintance was hit in the eye with an egg from an oncoming car, and lost the vision in his eye :(
On a separate and far less important note: As a relatively newbie bike commuter it would interesting to learn more about your set up and why you chose the accessories you mentioned in your post.
Incidentally, I ignore all this and bike to work every day, bike to stores when I go shopping, do all my grocery shopping with my bike, and of course go on long rides for no reason other than that it's enjoyable. Yeah, there are people who will give you mean stares at traffic lights, or engage you in discussion about how dangerous it is and how annoying you are to them. They also seem to enjoy demonstrating the loudness of their horn... which do end up being quite loud.
But what's good about the Internet is that it's allowed me to grow a very thick skin. I can deal with the yelling. I can position myself in a lane position that keeps me safe but slows down one or two drivers. It's hard, but I can do it, and I enjoy cycling a lot (and don't think drivers are bad). But most people don't have the self-confidence that I do, get yelled at, and never ride their bike to work again. Cars aren't ruining the environment, drivers are.
Incidentally, my second-biggest complaint is that it's hard to buy bikes that are set up for what people need them for. I had to buy my own chainguard (from Germany), rack (from Germany), and dynamo hub (from Germany), just because nobody in the US sells any products that are any good. Heaven forbid someone buy a bicycle that could carry a load and wouldn't ruin their clothes.
I love working on my bike and tinkering with things... but most people don't. So they just buy a car, honk at the cyclists that are increasing their commute time by five seconds, and keep the cycle of fear, uncertainty, and doubt alive.