I get that. The problem is, nobody ever says "drivers don't follow the rules" or "pedestrians don't pay attention." It's often "cyclists don't follow the rules, so they shouldn't be on the road and if I hit one, I shouldn't have to face the consequences."

We don't have the protection pedestrians have, nor do we have the strength of numbers or (in many, if not most) places to constitute a political force. A few bad apples...