You are absolutely free to live your life unsure of your own capabilities, but do not think that you are free to estimate the capabilities of others. I do not ride recklessly, ever. Do I stop at every intersection? I absolutely do not. Because I am confident in my abilities. I can absolutely judge distances and closing rates accurately enough to ensure my safety. BTW, I never said "100 yards." I never said a specific number at all. But since you want to play the pedant, let's. At 60mph, a car will take 15 seconds to cover a quarter mile. I can cross an intersection for a 5-lane in half that-- from a stop. At 20mph, it's under 3 seconds.
This isn't advanced geometry, nor is it gambling against "some phone engrossed driver." You see, I don't think everyone out there is 100% distracted 100% of the time. In fact, +99% of people behind the wheel are doing a pretty good job-- and I'm doing an equally good one, because in all of the combined miles we've travelled together (that is, me and cars) I've had close calls just a few times. Never near an intersection, never even in any situation where my behavior could have changed what happened in any way. The phone engrossed driver that gets you is the one you never saw.
No one can predict everything. But it is possible to go through a red light without risking life and limb. Just being realistic.
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