[jghn]

"is to not get in the way of others who have the right of way"

IMO that should be the rule for everyone :) The point I was trying to make was that often in these sorts of debates I see a lot of finger pointing between drivers & cyclists, with the cyclists saying, "Yeah, but we're more vulnerable - you all need to be more careful and allow us to do XYZ". But then they ignore that there's a third party who is even more vulnerable and often the behavior the cyclists propose increases danger to that third party.

"that I can do that with absolute safety and respect for myself and others."

As I said elsewhere in this thread, I'm AOK with people doing whatever they like in terms of traffic rules as long as it has zero impact on other people. Running red lights, jaywalking, etc - if no one is around, who cares? I jaywalk multiple times a day around the corner from my house - I live just off a busy main drag with very few crosswalks, so I just wait until there's a massive gap in the traffic on both sides and run across. OTOH I see people crossing that street all the time by just walking out and holding their hands up to signal to drivers that they should stop ... sorry, but no.

[crowding]

Sorry, but yes. In my state, crosswalks are legally defined to exist at every street corner whether or not they are painted lines. Furthermore, the obligation of drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks starts when they step into the street and not a moment before. (Standing on the sidewalk means nothing even if there is a painted crosswalk). Stepping out into a safe gap in the curbside lane and expecting traffic to stop is legally prescribed behavior and is the behavior drivers should expect. And pedestrians should encourage drivers to expect that behavior by actually behaving that way.