Bike like someone is trying to kill you

They aren't. (Probably). But pretending someone is will probably save your life. Because it forces you to be cautious and aware. When you get hit, it's going to be an accident, but you are still going to hurt, maimed, or killed. And the driver will say "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you!" I've been that driver and I've been the "I-need-to-sit-down-for-a-moment---I-almost-just-died" cyclist. 

It's not like the drivers are trying, or that they don't care. But it is a hard reality that our transportation system barely considers the safety of non-automobile users, and discounts their existence as a matter of practice, to shave fractions of sections at traffic signals. So vulnerable users are constantly at risk. It's like swimming with whales, great beast that might accidentally crush you in a moment of inattention. So, cycling in that context requires a certain amount of devil-may-care vitality, that only young men can fully enjoy.  So, when they are the only cyclists on the road, it's not by accident--it's selective pressure. 

Concordantly, the inevitable effect of being willing to bike in a context where every car might kill you is that you become a very aggressive cyclist. It's a natural consequence of living embedded in traffic violence. As a cyclist, the suggestion that traffic laws exist is absurd. Enforcement is, at best, nominal. Traffic violations are endemic. Everyone speeds, and people regularly run red lights, make illegal turns, ignores signs, violates crosswalks, fails to yield. It's a jungle out there. 

Certainly, there are customs, there are norms, there are signs and signals which are generally followed. But there is absolutely zero certainty of that happening, and the violations will happen suddenly, without notice. If we were sitting in a therapist's office, the therapist would nod now and say "Yes, is the very essence of abusive". 

If you do the legal thing, cross at the crosswalk, is there any safety in assuming that someone will come to a complete stop at the red light, before making their right-turn-on-red? Of course not. So you learn to bike in ways which are safe, in the same way people learn to hold a knife safely--make it impossible to get hurt and forget anything else. So you bike on the wrong side of the street (so no one can hit you from behind). You bike on the sidewalk (so you are protected by the curb). You cross the street before the crosswalk timer starts, before the light turns green. You wait for the light ahead of the stop line. 

Don't take anyone who talks about cyclists violating laws seriously. They are upset about cyclists behaving with the same level of privilege and immunity that drivers do, and that upsets their sense of the natural hierarchy of things.