I commute in Manhattan and may be somewhat more sympathetic than others here.

Fact is, to stay alive, you can't be looking at lights, you have to look at cars and people. So I run a lot of lights whather I want to or not simply because in looking around for them, I'm taking my eyes off where they need to be. Still, I agree with the thoughts we want to be good citizens and obey the laws. Cyclists have an anarchistic reputation and it contributes to the number of arrests by cops that want to housebreak us.

Hard to say how to play this. I've been popped twice, once at a "Critical Mass" demonstration and once for lifting my bike up to throw it though a Taxi windshield (he'd knocked me down in a game they sometimes play). Both times I went to court. The "Aggression" charge or whatever, I got 6 months Probation. The Advocate and the Judge just arranged it. Stay cool for 6 months and it's expunged. Get popped again and you get tried for it. The other one simply got dismissed. Officer said "I can't find my notes".

You ride a bike in NYC and it's a different world. Kind of like combat in the Army. Talk about it and people flame your sorry ass. It's a parallel universe and the civilized rules of normal society will get you killed. Outsiders simply don't understand it so you'll learn to keep your mouth shut about it.