[Zuben Elgenubi]

My #1 (head and shoulders above all the other irritants cited in this article):

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

[mysterio]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

Absolutely. And they are always positioned to give tickets to the commuting serfs on their way to and from work.

[kevkrom]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

Replace "speed traps" with "HOV lanes" and I'll agree. I hate the "HOV lanes" concept with a passion (a law, not surprisingly, brought to you by the same people who say that we shouldn't "legislate morality") -- the idea of removing 25% to 33% of useful road in the middle of rush hour to over 90% of the traffic doesn't sound like sound policy to me.

Then, you've got cops pulling over violators, which causes additional delays for rubbernecking.

[LIConFem]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

That's become their primary function where I live. Responding to actual crime scenes only cuts into their revenue collecting duties.

[ABN 505]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets. They have to have something to do between donut runs!

[Gone GF]

"There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets."

What in your mind constitutes a speed trap?

A woman I commute with considers any radar a "speed trap." Doesn't matter that every ticket she's ever gotten has been for going more than 10 mph above the speeed limit and most are for more than 15 mph above.

[verity]

"There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets."

That is true. If there were fewer police manning speed traps, they could have more speed traps.

[relictele]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

On a similar note, why do so many police/sheriff cars cruise the MAIN streets of any small or medium-sized town? When was the last time a crime, major or minor, occurred in front of a Kroger's, a McDonald's, the cinema, etc.? Have they not noticed that much of the crime occurs off the busy thoroughfares in neighborhoods (burglary, drug dealing), especially at night? Is this laziness, lack of imagination or is there some other reason cops are protecting what doesn't really need to be protected?

[TChad]

There are entirely too many police manning speed traps and giving out tickets.

Right. Forget that boring "To protect and serve!" stuff, cops have a business to run. The motto of modern police departments is, "To let no finable trivial offense go unfined!"

I have one peeve to add to the list. I hate it when drivers stop unnecessarily for pedestrians, to "help" them cross. While this may be necessary and good at painted crosswalks and when traffic is heavy, otherwise it is always better to give the pedestrian a clear road to cross by driving on. How is the pedestrian to know whether or not the grinning lunatic behind the wheel just stopped to entice him into the road, where he will be easier to hit? What if the drivers brake slips?

Be nice to a pedestrian -- get your damn car out of striking distance.