If you can see a mile in any direction when in a car, and there is nothing coming, why stop?
(also, anecdotally - this is in my DNA, my great grand-father was driving in San Francisco when they were installing stop-lights. He refused to have a machine tell him what to do and would run all lights.)
Not the best example because that place didn't have a stoplight, but in any case, the driver didn't see a firetruck with its lights on because the sun was right behind it.
So even in rural areas with "nothing for miles," the room for error exists.
If you can see a mile in any direction when in a car, and there is nothing coming, why stop?
(also, anecdotally - this is in my DNA, my great grand-father was driving in San Francisco when they were installing stop-lights. He refused to have a machine tell him what to do and would run all lights.)