In my view, there are no absolutes, and every situation is situational. Every street and every sidewalk is its own beast, and it's a judgment call based on the specific conditions.
How assiduously you obey "the rules" or "the laws" or claim to obey them, depends on how authoritarian you are, in reality or in your online persona, accepting that the two things may be different. Yet no rules are a substitute for improving our situational awareness and bike handling skills.