We've all endured the scary moments when we've slowly accelerated out of an intersection on a green light, only to have a car run the red light going across the intersection in front of us.
Or we've endured the driver in front of us at the intersection who is too busy answering a text message to notice that the light has been green for five seconds.
Or, doggone it, we've put up with just an increase in lack of common courtesy by drivers doing all manner of things at dangerous intersections.
We always wonder where the police are when we see these things happen.
The Chattanooga Police Department has heard our siren call and announced a new effort Wednesday to give increased priority to high-risk areas identified by traffic and crash data. Indeed, when some of those high-risk areas were tested for reckless behavior in recent months, more tickets were issued for the kind of driving that frustrates all of us.
Since the number of automobile crashes in the city after the first two months of 2016 is on par to equal or exceed last year's 14,912 total, it's not a moment too soon.
In the city in 2015, 35 people died in vehicle-related incidents in 2015, while 30 people were victims of homicide.
Homicides necessarily require the heavy involvement of police to capture the perpetrators. It's comforting to know police now will be giving the top crash locations extra scrutiny to help cut down on the vehicle fatality side of the ledger.