I don't 'waste effort and thought' on stopping. It takes a little effort, not much thought. While I'm stopping I can easily focus on checking for traffic, and stopping allows me to spend as much time as I need focusing on traffic, rather than creeping through, feeling rushed and spending time and effort balancing a slow-moving and therefore less balanced bike. I choose to obey the law, not because it's easy, but because it's the right thing to do.