When I lived in Boston, it was certainly legal to ride bicycles in the road (and illegal to ride them on many sidewalks), but cyclists still got hit by cars all the time. Riding with cars (whether in your own "lane" sandwiched between parked cars and moving cars, or in the same lane as the cars that want to bolt ahead at 40 mph whenever they have the chance) is the only legal option to get around by bike, but is absolutely not safe. It's one of the places where I think our legal code is absolutely bats--t crazy.