As an aside on my ride to get coffee at lunch I saw two USC students one exiting a sidewalk onto a crosswalk, the other riding on the wrong side of the street plow into each other. No serious injuries, but each of course blaming the other for the accident. I guess they don't have any cyclist education on this campus.
Heh - I was at USC yesterday, and had to dodge kids riding their cruisers all over the sidewalk. Good thing there are some wide sidewalks there. Too bad the bike lane is in the door zone most of the time.
I think the CA law has reasonable enough exceptions. I feel confident that I'm not breaking any laws when I take the lane to avoid getting right-hooked or avoid fallen palm tree parts. Most of the streets I ride on during my commute are plenty wide, and if they don't have a bike lane (stretches of Moulton Parkway near Leisure World), I'll take the right lane, and the cars have two other lanes to use to get around me.