I once had a gas station attendant giving me directions during a long night-time ride in unfamiliar territory. She suggested taking a certain road -ok, I can take that for what it's worth, but when she started talking about riding against traffic, I couldn't help but pipe up.
She said "You should ride on the left side of the road so that you can see what's coming rather than on the right where you can't see people coming up behind you."
Now, we all know this is illegal. While I understand how someone who doesn't ride a bike, and who probably doesn't commute on one would come to this conclusion, I had to set this lady straight. I explained that her argument is assuming that it's my job to get out of the way of other cars and this assumption isn't correct. I explained that cyclists are unique in that when they're on the sidewalk they're considered a pedestrian but when a cyclist is in the road, he's considered a vehicle and has to obey all of the same laws as any other vehicle on the road, except for those that pertain specifically to cyclists.
She didn't change her argument but she casually mentioned that it's my life I'm endangering, to which I answered "Yes, and it's my road too."