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Police and Highways Agency Traffic Officers responsibilities

Police and Highways Agency Traffic Officers are highly trained people who patrol England’s motorways 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We put drivers at the forefront of the Highways Agency’s operations to help tackle the growing problems of congestion on our roads. Our sole aim is to keep traffic moving to help make your journey as safe and as reliable as possible.


Depending on whether we are based on road or in the control room, we are trained to a high standard in everything from safety to dealing with customers, traffic management and the use of technology.

Where incidents occur, our police colleagues still retain their role in investigating crime, but we are there to help with coordinating the resources of the other emergency services, managing the traffic and re-opening routes as soon as it is safe to do so.

We also keep the public informed through our electronic message signs and by supplying information for local travel reports.

We are there to help you if you breakdown or are involved in a collision or incident.

Below is a breakdown of the current job roles the Highways agency and police share on Britians Motorways. There is also of a breakdown of how the highways Agency will respond when new regulations come into effect. They will be taking several roles away from the police in order to free up there services for more serious incidents.


Current roles

yellow Police
blue Highways Agency
green Shared

Control Office functions

 
Incident management yellow Handling fatal and serious incidents yellow Handling minor incidents yellow Emergency roadside telephone call handling yellow Incident sign setting yellow Liaison with HA contractors/ roadside service providers
Monitoring road network yellow CCTV use for incident management and criminality yellow CCTV use to monitor traffic flow green Real-time traffic management
Support to drivers yellow Providing network information to media yellow Tactical diversion sign setting yellow Strategic sign setting

On-road activity


General on-road activities yellow Managing criminal activity yellow Management of fatal and serious incidents yellow Management of minor collisions yellow Enforcement of road traffic offences yellow High visibility patrols
Controlling traffic flow yellow Dealing with abandoned vehicles yellow Removal of damaged/ broken down vehicles yellow Providing mobile/ temporary road closures green Clear debris and animals blue Repairing and improving the infrastructure
Other services yellow Escorting certain vehicles yellow Escorting abnormal loads if required yellow Monitoring roadworks yellow Special events yellow Road-user education

Central functions


Planning and control functions yellow Develop protocols and standards yellow Contingency planning green Routing of abnormal loads green Planning fixed traffic management green Planning for roadworks

Future roles

Control Office functions



Incident management yellow Handling police-led incidents blue Handling Highways Agency-led incidents blue Emergency roadside telephone call handling blue Incident sign setting blue Liaison with HA contractors/ roadside service providers
Monitoring road network green CCTV use for incident management and criminality blue CCTV use to monitor traffic flow blue Real-time traffic management
Support to drivers blue Providing network information to media blue Tactical diversion sign setting blue Strategic sign setting


On-road activity

General on-road activities yellow Managing criminal activity yellow Management of police-led incidents blue Management of minor collisions yellow Enforcement of road traffic offences green High visibility patrols
Controlling traffic flow blue Dealing with abandoned vehicles blue Removal of damaged/ broken down vehicles blue Providing rolling roadblocks and temporary road closures blue Clearing debris and animals blue Repairing and improving the infrastructure
Other services green Escorting certain vehicles blue Escorting abnormal loads if required blue Monitoring roadworks green Special events green Road-user education

Central functions

Planning and control functions green Develop protocols and standards green Contingency planning blue Routing of abnormal loads blue Planning fixed traffic management blue Planning for roadworks