The law is like this because the majority of americans are still cagers. More of them (us?) can relate to the motorist ("That poor man! What a thing to live through and be forced to remember his whole life!") than the cyclist or the cycling community, whose perspective is all too often "I saw the car in my rear view mirror and couldn't go anywhere fast enough."

This problem is not unique to the cycling community, either. Every year, many motorcyclists are killed in a similar way. A friend of mine was stopped at a red light on his motorcycle and hit by a drunk driver who just failed to stop altogether when she came up behind him. He was laid up quite badly and would have been killed had it not been for the helmet and leather gear he was wearing.

The public continues to think "Well, if they didn't want to get hit, they'd be driving a car. They know the risks."

It's "us vs them" and will be until we are common enough to be considered 'the usual'. Even then... who knows?