Thanks for the feedback everyone! And yes, for me, commuting is a very different animal than going on a rec ride for the reasons previously stated (not on streets of choice and during rush-hour). And yes, I to roll through an obviously empty stop sign intersection.

As far as my earlier comment about being preyed upon, that was back in the mid-70's in Cleveland Ohio. I would go on long-ish rides as a teenager 20 miles or so out of town and back. I was always a courteous rider but frequently was ridden off the road, punched off my bike, forced off the road to fall 15 feet down into a creek, yelled at, honked at, had items thrown at me, etc.

Other riders in Cleveland experienced similar things happen to them as I did. When we moved South in 1978 (North Carolina) it was actually better in most respects and worse in others. Better in that the roads were more rural and the drivers generally speaking more courteous (none of the former but I did get ribbed for wearing Spandex) but the farm dogs!! Oh gawd, let's not go down that path! Let's just say that they were my sprint and interval training motivation.

It was amazing to me that a different part of the country had drivers that actually were friendly to cyclists. The difference was quite stark.

Funny story....When I moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1987 I encountered a pickup truck full of Navy guys heading out to the beach. The cause-way to the beach had a draw bridge which opened frequently to allow sailboats on the Inter-coastal Waterway to get by. I saw these guys coming and heard them to. I turn my head as they came up along side of me. I got showered with beer, boiled peanuts (which were hot out of the kettle and smelled divine), got a moon, and well, you get the picture. All out of fun. Well, the horn sounded and the bridge opened which stops all traffic.

As I approached these guys they just knew I was going to give them grief. One guy offered me a beer. I kindly refused but said I'd take them up on that if they caught me on the way back. They laughed, I laughed and I think they knew they messed up but hey, they were probably on leave and needed the downtime and I thought it pretty funny actually.

Guys like that go off to far-away lands so that the rest of us can sleep soundly at night.