Ahhh the good life:
Lots of good tips here. Don't forget loads of reflectors. I don't know if they are common in the US, but reflecting tires give a huge side profile and pedals with reflectors give a nice blinking effect to cars approaching from behind.
Although those times that I mentioned above are the only times that I actually hit someone (well, one being where I hit someone and the other being me having to dismount in order to not hit them), but a lot of the time, people would see me coming and would try to get out of my way. Imagine doing that hallways waltz with someone who is going 15mph. It doesn't end well. I usually had to hit the brakes hard. I always preferred when they couldn't see me coming, because almost every time that someone tried to get out of my way, they made it worse. So I understand why they wouldn't want to do that. And if they are competent enough, they can go around with no problem. Going into the grass, or hopping curbs as necessary to make sure that no one gets injured.
My point was that he shouldn't have done something so dangerous and risky (and likely illegal). He obviously was not in a position where going onto the sidewalk was even a really feasible thing to do at that time. Just makes him out to be a dick.
Got your point, it is appreciated. Sorry if i sounded a bit tacky, just wanted to draw a clearer picture of my experiences.