Pulling the cable is just weak. If you dont want to encounter humans, play solo or in group. If you play open you accept things can go down the drain fast and you can die. Intentionally disconnecting from multiplay is flat-out cheating, IMHO. Only exception would be situations as Titan Balls described, but I havent seen that happen myself, or sudden and unexpected real-world distractions. By all means, don't let your two-year old starve because of our little dogfight.

Beyond that, just don't. If you don't have insurance: tough luck, you made that descision so accept the risks.
But I guess it has to do with personality. I love to play iron man/hardcore, the possibility of consequences entertains the mind. Others would much rather be able to reload the minute something bad happens and prefer predictable and incremental progress. I guess these people are more likely to be traders, play only partly in open and pull the plug when in danger more frequently. Doesnt effect me in any way so far though as very few people bring their haulers to Warzones.

And the few trader-cmdrs I saw outside were all clean except for one 300CR bounty in a shieldless hauler. But sometimes I wonder if being less aversive to risk might make this game more fun for some. Trading while pulling the plug in every encounter seems both terribly lame and boring to me...