Editing Traffic break (section)

{{Short description|Separation in the flow of traffic along a road or highway}}

[[File:Rolling roadblock on M40 2018-07-15 03.jpg|thumb|A break on the [[M40 motorway]] in England implemented by a [[National Highways traffic officer]]]]

A '''traffic break''' is any separation in the flow of [[traffic]]—naturally occurring or otherwise—along a road or highway. In heavily [[traffic congestion|congested traffic]], natural breaks occur rarely, thus the term ''traffic break'' most commonly refers to the manual separation of traffic, normally conducted by [[highway patrol]] officers.<ref name="ai">{{cite web |url=http://americanindian.net/traffica.html |title=California Highway Patrol terminology |access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref>

Most such traffic breaks are used to clear a hazardous obstruction from the road or to allow a stalled vehicle to safely make its way off the road and onto the [[hard shoulder|shoulder]]. For example, a highway patrol officer may arrive at the site of the accident and then radio to another officer to initiate a traffic break. The second officer enters traffic before the site of the accident, turns on their [[Emergency vehicle lighting|warning lights]], and begins weaving across multiple lanes to signal that other drivers are to slow down and remain behind the officer. The speed to which the officer slows is based on the amount of time needed to clear the accident ahead. An officer may completely stop traffic to yield larger separation. The second officer then radios ahead to the first officer, who is still at the site of the accident, and gives them a description of the last vehicle traveling ahead at regular speeds. The first officer will use this information to determine when it is safe to move the accident off the road and onto the shoulder.<ref name="ai" />

Traffic breaks may also be conducted to gradually slow traffic in preparation for a large accident ahead that has caused traffic to stop abruptly. This greatly reduces the chance of subsequent crashes due to motorists not braking in time. Other traffic breaks may give time for construction activities to be completed uninterrupted. Some construction requires equipment that obstructs the flow of traffic to a point that it becomes a major hazard to have traffic trying to travel around them, such as adjusting the placement of a traffic sign, (re)striping lane markers, or sweeping the roadway. Alternatively, some construction would produce dangerous conditions to passing vehicles, such as [[rock blasting|blasting]]. In rare circumstances, civilian motorists have initiated traffic breaks. In 2004, one Alameda County man ran a traffic break to aid in the emergency landing of a small [[Cessna 172]] on [[Interstate 580 (California)|Interstate 580]].<ref name="sfgate">{{cite news |url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/24/plane1.TMP |title=KCBS traffic plane lands in, well, traffic |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=2006-03-06 |first=Henry K. |last=Lee |date=2004-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311161323/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F05%2F24%2Fplane1.TMP |archive-date=March 11, 2007}}</ref>

When a single traffic break does not allow sufficient time to complete a task, multiple breaks may be conducted in series. This practice is called "running a round-robin".<ref name="ai" />