It seems to me that everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel here. If you are making a visual approach, you are demonstrably NOT making an instrument approach. To my mind, this only happens when you can actually SEE the runway, from a goodly distance away - I'm talking at least 10 or even up to 30 miles, depending on your knowledge of the place!
So, you've put yourself in the situation and called "visual" and ATC has said (maybe to themselves... bloody ripper!), then cleared you for visual approach, call tower... blah, blah, blah. Okay, so far so good.
So there you are, configuring for the final approach, going through final approach and pre-landing checks. However, Murphy's Law intervenes...
1. Too hot and too high... oops!
2. Dumass Airlines taxies onto the runway in the mistaken belief that they have a clearance... oops!
3. Any other kind of... ooops!
So now, as the Captain of the inbound aircraft, who's been given clearance to land by the Tower (after transfer for Radar/Approach/WhatBloodyEver), there is now a very valid reason why you can't land on the runway ahead of you, in weather conditions that are really good for visual approach, etc. What are you going to do?
This is the dilemma at the heart of the problem, so far as I'm concerned. The fact is that I will ALWAYS call visual as soon as I can see the runway, in wx conditions that assure me of continued visual reference - this is SOP, so far as I'm concerned and I will ALWAYS insist that PF briefs for this and any go-around for the unforeseen!
The brief is, essentially, to climb straight ahead on runway heading, call ATC - if they haven't already seen the manoeuvre and already done the right thing by giving instructions that we've been too busy to acknowledge. After whatever R/T exchange has been necessary, we FOLLOW the instructions from ATC to help us avoid traffic conflicts.
Heaven knows we're MUCH too busy, at least initially, to concentrate on TAWS or EGPWS, or anything like that - we aviate, navigate and communicate! Why is that so difficult? If anyone needs a book reference for that, look up your own local airmanship guide! You DON'T depend on ATC for your initial action or even your initial navigation.
How long will it take you to get the g/a going along runway heading, to sort out the aeroplane and it's navigation straight ahead - and then talk to ATC? I'll bet that you're all switched on enough for that all to happen while your aeroplane is within the control zone airspace.
Yes, in MY brief for a visual approach, I set the SOP altitude for the traffic pattern, for the g/a. I cancel that when it is certain that I can land - and I can SEE other aircraft on the ground are going to be clear of the runway. That too, is SOP, and part of the approach briefing.
Let's not try to reinvent the wheel here. Let's just be professionals and make some PROFESSIONAL decisions that will keep us and our pax alive. That decision starts at the point where we decide to call "visual", in the interests of saving the company some time - and money. Let's not go off half-cocked in this!