Silas, I understand your anger. However, I suggest that it's fundamentally born of envy. In point of fact, the people who are most in danger when cycling through red lights are the cyclists themselves. If you were accustomed to cycling in London, you would recognise that careful traversing of crossroads on a bicycle when lights are red, greatly increases their safety, since they are in far greater danger when vehicles are moving off at a junction as the light goes green. This is because drivers' behaviour often involves failing to indicate when turning and frequently desiring to be first off the line ahead of someone in another lane in order to be in front when two lanes become one. This is perilous for a cyclist who is likely to get squeezed out being 'smaller'. I came to a junction on my bike in Wandsworth last night. The light ahead was red. A coach overtook me in the narrow lane to queue behind the six or eight other cars at the red light. I was forced abruptly to a standstill as the coach came in around me to hug the kerb.
Until it is recognised that cyclists have equal use of the road and should be treated no differently from other road users, they will continue to bend the rules in order to secure their safety, which given their physical vulnerability, having no cage around them, is surely paramount in the argument. Councils need to recognise this and put in place measures which support their safety. Green boxes for bicycles at junctions are often ignored by drivers and are insufficient protection when traffic moves off simultaneously: perhaps the answer is a green light for bicycles prior to that for motorised vehicles.
Such measures would be a fitting acknowledgement of the greater sense in travelling by pedal power, both environmentally and in terms of the health it promotes, not to mention the efficiency in saving time which is so important to London travellers who are increasingly frustrated by over-burdened public transport.