BAD idea unless at a familiar field . . . You check your DG on startup and adjust on your wet compass or just general sanity check if an INS . . . From then on, for the most part, it is sanity checking you.
Lunken airport in Cincinatti has a similar taxiway layout between runways 25 and 21L. I remember being momentarily confused on a XC there in the Goshawk. In my case my instructor and I were trying to outrun an upcoming Presidential TFR (long story) to get out of there and had already flexed from our original plan due to weather, so I was fotzing with charts and approach plates and also taxiing as he was furiously plugging in INS waypoints and coordinating our IFR clearance. So distractions were certainly present. We didn't come close to taking the wrong runway, but I remember thinking "dang, that's odd" at the runway layout and verifying with my IP that we were indeed pointing the right way. Wink is absolutely right. Good habit patterns will save your skin.
You can minimize the risks of air travel but no one lives forever or is perfect. I have always viewed takeoff as one of the most dangerous parts of any flight. Too many things can go wrong while going too fast too close to the ground and being confined in your area to maneuver. I view a high-speed abort as possibly more dangerous than even an ejection, though one may lead to another. Gotta be on your game before you point the nose downrange and advance the throttle(s).
