I have a few issues with what you’re saying. By getting a drivers license and operating a vehicle on public roadways, you’re agreeing that you’ll keep your vehicle in whatever operational condition the law dictates. A “fix-it” ticket is justified if your car doesn’t meet these requirements. Officers applying this law unfairly is a whole other issue, but the concept is not “onerous and stupid.”
Also, police need some level of “officer discretion.” If you have a friend with a gaping wound in your passenger seat and you’re doing 90mph to the hospital, do you really want a cop to write you a ticket and force you to wait for paramedics to arrive while your friend bleeds out?