YRVLD: There appears to be a paradox. Airmanship and common sense?
My comments on a previous page were attacked as not so smart when I suggested that SOPs should also conform to experience and judgement.
If following a yellow 'safety' line will possibly result in your left wing hitting either the wall or luggage carts and leftover ground equipment, are many pilots on YOUR side of the Atlantik taught that the line must always be followed, for example, even when taxiing into gate B-40 at Newark (EWR)?
When you hear first-hand from other pilots that a certain Montana mountain airport can quickly develop unforecast fog from a nearby lake, or a sudden light snow shower (the control tower will be closed...no snow plowing possible..), SOPs do not require that you TELL Dispatch (aren't you the Captain?) to add extra fuel for a return over the mountain to a nearby airport.