Highway patrol


A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countries as traffic police, although in other countries this term is more commonly used to refer to foot officers on point duty who control traffic at junctions.

Functions

Duties of highway patrols or traffic police may include the following:
  • Accident investigation: Gathering evidence to determine the cause of a roadway accident.
  • Commercial vehicle enforcement: Enforcing highway laws related to commercial transport, including weight limits and hazardous materials rules.
  • Education: Providing public information, handouts, and displays to encourage safe driving and usage of the roads.
  • Emergency response: Securing the scene of a traffic accident by using cones and flares as well as providing first aid to the injured.
  • Law enforcement: Assisting local police in rural areas, and keeping an eye out for non-traffic violations.
  • Maintenance: Observing and reporting damage to the roadways, and conducting hasty road surveys after disasters or the passage of inclement weather.
  • Traffic enforcement: Enforcing laws and regulations intended to improve traffic safety, such as speed limits.

    Argentina

In Argentina, traffic policing is the responsibility of the Argentine National Gendarmerie.

Australia

In Australia, traffic policing is the responsibility of the state police forces. Each force has its own traffic sections, often a local section in each area and a statewide section.

Austria

In Austria, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Austrian Federal Police.

Belgium

In Belgium, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Wegpolitie - Police de la Route a section of the Federal Police.
In Brazil, traffic policing is the responsibility of state and federal police forces accordingly to the highway administration status. State administered highways are policed by a branch of the Military Police forces, called State Highway Military Police. At the same time Federal highways and roads are the responsibility of the Federal Highway Police.

Canada

In Canada, traffic policing on highways is primarily the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, except for in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. In these provinces, the following agencies are responsible for highway patrol:
  • Ontario Provincial Police
  • Sûreté du Québec
  • Alberta Sheriff Highway Patrol
  • Saskatchewan Highway Patrol
  • New Brunswick Department of Public Safety
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary serves only major metropolitan areas and highway policing is the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In British Columbia, provincial RCMP Traffic Services rebranded themselves as the British Columbia Highway Patrol. British Columbia Highway Patrol vehicles have their own liveries without the RCMP logo but unlike other highway patrol agencies, they are not a separate agency. Instead they remain part of the RCMP. In New Brunswick, Inspections and Enforcement New Brunswick officers assist provincial RCMP officers with traffic enforcement as the RCMP dismantled all but one of its traffic units in the province.
In 2018 Saskatchewan gave additional authorities to its commercial vehicle enforcement branch in relation to Criminal Code and provincial traffic offences and renamed the branch the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol to reflect its new powers. In addition to the Sûreté du Québec, Quebec maintains the which enforces traffic laws in relation to commercial vehicles. The Northwest Territories has a highway patrol agency called the Northwest Territories Highway Patrol. It is responsible only for enforcing laws in relation to commercial vehicles.

China

In China some provinces, including Sichuan have a separate Expressway Patrol Public Security Bureau which is under the administration of provincial Public Security Departments, however in most provinces such as Guangdong, the task of highway patrol is assigned municipal traffic police.
Prior to its deactivation in 2018, the Chinese was tasked with maintenance, disaster response and security along highways in rural or border areas.

Colombia

In Colombia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Colombian National Police, under the responsibility of the Highway Police corps.

Croatia

In Croatia, traffic police special department is the national motorway patrol, patrols the motorways in Croatia. Missions include the prevention and detection of driving offences.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Policie CR.

Denmark

In Denmark, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Danish National Police.

Finland

In Finland, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Finnish National Police.

France

In France, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of dedicated units of the Gendarmerie Nationale, the Escadron départementaux de sécurité routière and the CRS autoroutières of the National Police.

Germany

In Germany, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Autobahnpolizei section of the Landespolizei.

Hungary

In, Hungary, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Hungarian National Police.

India

In India, some states have formed Highway Patrol Divisions under their respective state police departments. such as Karnataka Highway Patrol, Kerala Highway Police, Tamil Nadu Highway Patrol, Maharashtra Highway Police, etc. In states where there is no highway police system, traffic policing duties on highways are performed by the traffic police of the respective state police forces.

Indonesia

In Indonesia] traffic policing is the responsibility of the Indonesian National Police's Traffic Corps. The Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps oversees several units which regard to traffic policing including the highway patrol unit. It conducts activities such as traffic: law enforcement, management, control, accident handling and prevention, education, escort, and patrol in the roads of the country. The issuing of a driver's license is also conducted by this unit.

Ireland

The Garda Traffic Corps, a specialised unit of the Garda Síochána is responsible for patrolling the countries motorways and other national routes. They patrol using motorbikes, off-road/4X4s, and a mixture of marked and unmarked high-powered saloon cars.

Italy

In Italy, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Polizia Stradale section of the civilian Polizia di Stato and the Gendarmerie force of the Carabinieri.

Japan

In Japan, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Expressway Traffic Police Units, operational units of the traffic department within each prefectural police agency.

Liechtenstein

Despite the non-existence of motorways due to the country's small size, the Liechtensteiner National Police, the country's small national police force, is in charge of traffic matters.

Luxembourg

In Luxembourg, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Grand Ducal Police, the country's national police force, under the responsibility of the Road Police Unit. This task was previously enforced by the defunct Luxembourgish National Grand Ducal Gendarmerie.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility by Royal Malaysia Police. JPJ also charged with the responsibility of undertaking registration and licensing of drivers and all motor vehicles and trailers in Malaysia.

Mexico

In Mexico, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of the Mexican National Guard.

Monaco

Despite the non-existence of motorways due to the country's small size, the Monegasque Public Security, the country's small national police force, is in charge of traffic matters.

Morocco

In Morocco, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, the country's national gendarmerie force.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, policing on the highways falls under the purview of the Dienst Infrastructuur, which is one of the Landelijke Eenheid. Their primary focus is to conduct traffic stops with the aim to detect criminal activities and to intercept weapons, money and drugs. Which can be used for criminal activities. further they work with agencies to prevent international drug trade. Within the Dienst Infrastructuur there is an organisation called FIT they are an organization that specializes in tackling embezzlement and theft of cars and tackling drug transport via cars.

New Zealand

In New Zealand the Highway Patrol operates almost exclusively on state highways and is a subdivision of the Road Policing Team of the New Zealand Police. The Road Policing Team includes many different Highway Patrol type policing teams such as the Strategic Traffic Units, Commercial Vehicle Safety Team, Impairment Prevention Teams, and Serious Crash Units. Formerly traffic law enforcement was the responsibility of the Traffic Safety Service of the Ministry of Transport. The MOT had no law enforcement authority beyond traffic. The MOT merged with the Police in 1992 and the Highway Patrol was re-established as its own unit within the New Zealand Police in 2001.

Norway

In Norway, traffic policing on highways is the responsibility of National Mobile Police Service of the Norwegian Police Service.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, traffic policing on National Highways And Motorways is the responsibility of National Highways & Motorway Police.