[devrelm]

As my driving instructor used to say, "Stop signs and red lights do not actually reach out and stop the other driver."

The lesson: just because it's your turn to go does not mean that others will not enter the intersection when it's not their turn. I agree that rolling stops at a 4-way stop are generally safe when you can clearly see that no other cars are at or approaching the intersection. But in my experience, the fact that the other person is at fault has been little consolation for having to deal with a totaled car and a permanent backache.

[Spivak]

Right, so the reward/risk isn't enough for you. It's also prudent to stop at a green and look both ways but nobody does this either.

At the end of the day you either trust other drivers or you don't. You're not exposing yourself to any significant addional risk by making these 'safe violations' than you do driving in general.

[nostrademons]

The whole idea behind "defensive driving" is that you don't trust the other driver.

[emodendroket]

But in some sense you do, because you don't come to a dead stop at every intersection, even when it's green. And it's a bitter pill to swallow, but no amount of defensive driving can make you totally safe. Getting rear-ended sucks.

[nostrademons]

Sure, but you can take some relatively easy actions to significantly reduce your chance of injury by a crazy driver. I don't come to a stop at green lights, but I do glance both ways to see if there's oncoming traffic. Occasionally there is: I've seen people blatantly run red lights.

[joejerryronnie]

The laws of physics always trump the laws of the road.

[emodendroket]

OK, obviously that's true. But if it's empty, you have good visibility, and you plainly have the right of way, well, I'm just going to take it on faith that nobody is hurtling down the road at 80 mph. You can't possibly account for everything; that's the risk of driving.

[shkkmo]

Or you could, stop, check the intersection and proceed safely like you are legally required to do.

[emodendroket]

And that would foreclose the possibility of someone racing down the perpendicular street and ignoring the stop sign?

[diab0lic]

No, but it would increase the chance of you noticing that person and taking corrective action.