Not to mention that cars aren't even supposed to turn across a crosswalk if there is a human in the crosswalk. It doesn't even matter that the human has passed. Legally they need to wait until the human reaches the other side. IIRC, this is actually one of the few moving violations where you lose your license on the spot. One of the others is passing a stopped schoolbus.
As a cyclist, I would happily exchange the cyclist privileges the OP described in exchange for a city that cracks down heavily on drivers who flaunt the laws. More cars off the road the better.
This city is headed in the same messed up direction as São Paulo and Beijing (lived in both, only cycled in SP). The city is past the point where cars make sense, and is unwilling to jump the gulf to making walking, public transportation and biking the safest and most effective forms of transportation.