I am pretty sure I was stopped by NPCs in every system from New Tokyo to Magellan on one route. Although they didn't stand up to my Transport weapons, it did get rather grating after a while...
no way, keep npc's on lanes. keeps you awake, and great for some fun target practice, especially if you are bored. I generally rp shooting them, and I do think lawfulls like to help traders shooting npcs on lanes too. I know I certainly do.
Is something different, its not a pain either. And the one who said you got dropped out of lanes every system on your route, you was likely playing when npc count is up, when there's a low number of players.