If I stopped at every stop sign and traffic signal along my commute, my commute time would suffer badly. Most of my riding is through residential neighborhoods and city streets.

I treat everything like a yield sign. I approach every intersection w/ caution - regardless of whether or not I have right of way. I don't want to get run over by someone else running a stop sign or a red light. If I am approaching a stop sign or a red light I slow dramatically to give myself ample opportunity to gauge whether it's safe to proceed or not. If it is safe to do so, I go. If not, I stop.

When I first started riding again, I used to stop for signals and stop signs. Then one day a guy rolled down his window and said "Wow, I've never seen that before. You stop for traffic lights?" I figured "why should I be the only one?"