I'm not sure the distance between the end of the runway and the intersection at ORD. considering that the three airports you mention (BUR, LGA, and DCA) I can recall airplanes running off the end of all three runways in my (short) lifetime, I can certainly see the pilots' point. It's one thing when the plane runs off the end of the runway ... if they ran into another plane ... well, the picture would not be pretty.