Let me rephrase-- This law only changes things for cyclists when the intersection is clear. If there are cars going through the light, then the cyclist treats it the same as they always have.
Agreed on paper. But my largest concern is that drivers make many, many anticipatory decisions in split-seconds while scanning for traffic.
If a driver sees a cyclist coming while they approach an intersection and, unaware of the new law, assumes "They are going to stop because that's a red light / that's a stop sign," that's a significant risk for the oncoming cyclist if they mis-judge the velocity of the oncoming car and think they'll be able to clear the intersection before the car arrives.
Everybody drives a bit safer when everybody has the most correct mental model of driver behavior they can have.
