I am tired (sorry about the pun) of seeing people on bikes ignoring all of the traffic laws locally. There really ARE some streets where the traffic is too fast and heavy for bikes to be a viable option. Locally there are a lot of hills. I can't tell you the joy of being stuck on a 2-lane road behind a bike while a couple of dozen cars behind think that I am being an unfathomable slowpoke because they can't see the guy on the bike doing 5 MPH.
As far as the bike ALWAYS having the right of way and having the whole lane, I think that those are matters of state and local law. The laws in Texas may say that, but in Tennessee you can get ticketed for obstructing traffic regardless of what vehicle you are driving. That applies to cars, trucks, tractors, and bicycles. Bikes have no special rights on the road and are required to obey all traffic laws. I am occasisionally amused to see a cyclist getting a ticket for passing on the right side of the road, etc...
It all boils down to people being responsible and polite. One doesn't (or at least shouldn't) get special priviledges on public roads because of the vehicle that one drives, be it bike or beemer (or Chevy pickup truck...).