A lot of the rules governing cars and bicycles are not reciprocal. Case in point, this one about leaving room when passing I wish cyclists felt obliged to leave that much space when passing my car! But I live in London there's no way cyclists would ever be able to weave through traffic in that case, which would undercut the whole point of cycling.
It's true that one problem with cyclists is that they aren't one homogenous mass, which means they can be very unpredictable to other road users -- I mean, mostly cars all move at the same speed and at a steady speed, but some cyclists are all in cycling gear and race past, others are invisible on their Santander bikes (crap lights, what was TFL thinking?) or wobble by in a sit-up-and-beg bike with high heels and quite possibly a child on the back. And anyone who rides a bike knows why cyclists tend to dislike stopping at crossings: it forces you to lose momentum and to shift your balance, and it makes you worry about the purblind car driver behind you.
When I am riding my bike, I find car drivers annoying and fear for my life. But when I am driving my car, though of course I slow for cyclists (and stop for pedestrians), I do get annoyed! And let's not even go into my habit of darting across the road when I'm a pedestrian. In our old roads there just isn't enough space for everyone.
