I take a similar approach to you: talk to folk who act scared, and see
if there's any basis to their argument. On the other hand, there are
times when people are simply *not* going to be prepared to discuss the
matter.
For example, the only time I've been stopped by the Police was on a very
quiet Sunday here in London. I was riding on a completely empty pavement
by Marble Arch when a copper stepped out of his van and told me to get off.
I complied immediately, then turned and asked "is it illegal?". He said
that of course it was, riding bikes on the pavement is a no-no. I tried
the "ah, but this isn't a bike" approach, to which he replied "if you want
to argue about it I can give you a bit of paper that will tell you how to
argue about it in court". (Almost direct quote: he seemed to threaten to
take me to court.)
Well I backed off a bit, and asked if it was alright to ride on the roads.
He said "only if you ride on the left", at which all his colleagues in the
van laughed. Ah yes, colleagues in a van. Perhaps it's more that if you
are going to argue the matter, don't argue with someone who wants to prove
himself.
Anyway I didn't point why it is in fact illegal to ride unis on the road
(no two independent sets of brakes, no front/rear reflectors, etc.) but
carried on anyway.
Ah well, can't win them all over just yet. Global domination may be a
little later than planned...
(For the record, I prefer riding on the road anyway, and if you're careful
there's nowhere in London really that's not safe.)
pab.