+1. My cycling behavior is based primarily on my personal safety. Once that is taken care of I concern myself with a combination of avoiding delays for myself and others. I routinely run red lights. No, I don't blaze thru the light without looking. I do sometimes stop at the light if there's traffic. But the "light" doesn't have much to do with my behavior. My conduct is based on the INTERSECTION and the TRAFFIC, not the presence (or absence!) of a stop light or stop sign.

By doing this I'm not only making my commute faster, I'm also making it faster for others. As a general rule, keeping myself moving is the best way to avoid delays for myself and others. My behavior may cause slight delays for select individuals but is still best for the overall pattern of traffic.

For example, there's a very busy four lane highway that I ride on for about 500 yards of my commute. I get on it in the right lane but I need to make a left turn at the intersection I'm approaching. Frequently cars are backed up at the light for several hundred feet. If I merge over into the left turn lane and wait my place in traffic then when the light turns green the waiting drivers will all charge for the light, trying to see that they make it thru before the left turn signal turns red. As we all start moving, the cars in front of me quickly accelerate and put an increasing gap between me and them. Now the cars behind me are frustrated with the slow bicyclist that's causing them to not make the light. They are likely to make unsafe passing opportunities so I stay out in the lane blocking them, further frustrating these people. Imagine their glee if I make it thru the light just before it turns red, but having prevented some 25 drivers from doing the same.

I avoid all that as follows. When the traffic is backed up like that I cruise between the lanes of traffic to make make my way up to the very first spot waiting at the left turn signal and in the right most portion of that left turn lane. When the light turns yellow for the perpendicular traffic I usually find a safe opportunity to start my left turn before my left turn signal turns green. In any case I make it a wide left turn, giving the cars behind me quite ample room to make a tighter left turn at full speed. They're all turning left onto another multi-lane road so as I complete the turn and occupy the right lane, I'm not holding up anybody.

This is of course illegal as hell. I weave between the lanes of (stopped) traffic and frequently I run the red light (just before it turns green). But this is the safest way to get me through the intersection. Some of the drivers probably still get angry at "that damn cyclist" that ignores traffic laws. But they're actually happier in the end, their route is unimpeded by my presence, I'm safer, and we all get home sooner.

To me the value of traffic laws is that they define who has the right of way. Right of way is important only when two vehicles want to occupy the same real estate. If there's no such competition, I see no value in the law. And as has been stated, the laws are designed primarily with rules that make sense for cars. Bicycles are just shoehorned into that infrastructure without due consideration of how bicycles are different. A bicycle and rider may be 200 pounds of mass moving at 15 miles per hour and with far greater visibility and maneuverability than automobiles that are more likely 2,000 pounds of mass moving at 50+ miles per hour. The increased danger to others is orders of magnitude.