asks:
they're considered vehicles almost everywhere, but just because law says so, it doesn't mean that people in motor vehicles agree/support it, you know?

People in motor vehicles need to be aware of bicycles, and to accord them sufficient space on the road.   In recent years we have started having  “mass rides” where piles of cyclists come out and ride together in a mass, right through the center of town.  It certainly makes it clear that bicycles can command the road.