National Highways traffic officer

This article is about traffic officers operating in England. For traffic officers in Wales, see Welsh Government traffic officer.

"HATO" redirects here. For other uses, see Hato (disambiguation).

National Highways traffic officer

A BMW X5 (hybrid) used by National Highways traffic officer service for patrol and response duties.
Occupation
Activity sectors	Government, road traffic control, vehicle recovery, roadside assistance
Description
Fields of employment	Motorways in England operated by National Highways and select trunk roads.
Related jobs	Road policing unit, Traffic guard

National Highways traffic officers, previously Highways England traffic officers (2015–2021) and Highways Agency traffic officers (HATO 1994–2015), are employed by National Highways in England.

They are a civilian service who respond to both emergency and routine incidents on the strategic road network operated by National Highways.

In April 2004, Highways Agency traffic officers began working alongside the police on motorways in the West Midlands.

The first national roll-out of traffic officers was completed on 18 July 2006, starting to cover all of the motorway network within England, i.e. which functions as a subsidiary of the National Highways, and the All-Purpose Trunk Road (APTR) network.

This is a civilian role, operated in accordance with National Guidance Framework agreed with the National Police Chiefs' Council.

Operations

Uniform

Traffic officers wear two-tone orange and yellow high-visibility jackets. They wear dark blue cargo trousers with high visibility and retroreflective markings at the bottom. All on road traffic officers wear black, steel toe-capped boots. Staff are issued a range of gloves suitable for tasks such as clearing debris, a safety helmet and protective goggles for dealing with overturned vehicles, and a range of hats for varied weather conditions. Traffic officers are also issued a white collared shirt and black tie for appearances in court in the course of their duties. All officers carry portable Airwave radios, for communication with other traffic officers, the control rooms, and other emergency services.

Vehicles and equipment

Traffic officers patrol the motorway network and all-purpose trunk roads in high-visibility patrol vehicles, that feature black and yellow Battenburg liveries, and amber and red rear-facing lighting.

The vehicles have all-wheel drive capabilities and are used to assist in the management of incidents and, where appropriate, clear broken-down or disabled vehicles to places of safety off the carriageways. The vehicles can operate in severe weather and carry equipment including emergency traffic management kits, automated external defibrillators (AED), medical trauma kits and other specialised equipment required to safely deal with a range of different incidents. The combination of the vehicles' size, liveries and ancillary lighting enhances their visibility when positioned at incidents. They are also fitted with Airwave radios, hands-free mobile telephones, alternating flashing headlights and bull horns to assist with progressing through stationary traffic on approach to incidents. They also have variable message panels (VMP) in the rear windows which display messages such as "do not pass" for rolling roadblocks or scrolling "keep left and right" chevrons for use at incidents.

Traffic officers use different models of 4×4 vehicles, with a mixed fleet of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and diesel-powered with automatic transmissions. Vehicles used for patrolling as of 2021 include Land Rover Discoverys, Mitsubishi Shoguns, Mitsubishi Shogun Sports, Volvo XC90s (PHEV) and BMW X5s (PHEV).

Communications

Traffic officers maintain contact with each other and the regional operational control centres by use of Sepura hand-held and vehicle TETRA radios using the Airwave network, and enabling officers to co-ordinate with other Airwave users. Each patrol vehicle is also fitted with a hands-free mobile phone.

Incidents

Traffic officers attend incidents ranging from live lane breakdowns and road debris to road traffic collisions (RTCs) taking the lead command role, except where there is an incident involving loss of life or life-changing injuries in which case the Police retain oversight.

Powers

Traffic officers principally derive powers from the Traffic Management Act 2004 and have jurisdiction over the strategic road network of England, under authorisation given by the secretary of state. Traffic officers are able to exercise their powers on any road in England and Wales, provided that it is with permission from the chief of police for the relevant force in which the road is situated, or the relevant traffic authority for the road.

Traffic Management Act 2004

A road block on the M40 motorway implemented by a traffic officer

Traffic officers must comply with the directions of a police constable, and to exercise their powers must be on duty and in uniform.

For the purposes of:

• maintaining or enhancing the flow of traffic on a relevant road under the jurisdiction of the traffic officer
• preventing or mitigating the effects of anything causing (or having the potential to cause) congestion or other disruptions to the flow of traffic on such a road
• avoiding danger to those using the road (or mitigating the risks of any such danger arising)
• preventing damage to, or to anything on or near, such a road

A traffic officer may:

• direct a person driving or propelling a vehicle to stop the vehicle, or to make it proceed in, or keep to, a particular line of traffic
• for the purposes of a traffic survey of any description which is being carried out on or in the vicinity of a road, to direct a person driving or propelling a vehicle to stop the vehicle, or to make it proceed in, or keep to, a particular line of traffic, or to proceed to a particular point on or near the road on which the vehicle is being driven or propelled (subject to the restriction in section 35(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52))
• when regulating vehicular traffic in a road, direct persons on foot (or such persons and other traffic) to stop
• direct a person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle, or riding a cycle, on a road to stop the vehicle or cycle
• place and temporarily maintain traffic signs on a road
• remove and dispose of vehicles in line with the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles (Traffic Officers) (England) Regulations 2008

It is an offence to assault, resist or wilfully obstruct a traffic officer in the execution of their duty. National Highways traffic officers do not have any powers of arrest, or to search, issue fixed penalties or report for summons for any motoring offence, however traffic officer patrol vehicles are fitted with CCTV and any footage of motorists committing a traffic offence can be forwarded to the police for prosecution. Breaching a rolling road block is an offence which is likely to be prosecuted. The number of prosecutions has increased in line with the fitting of CCTV to traffic officer vehicles.

Drivers are obliged by the Traffic Management Act 2004 to comply with directions to pull over and/or stop given by traffic officers;

Removal and disposal of vehicles

Since 2008, traffic officers have had the powers to directly arrange recovery of abandoned, broken-down or damaged vehicles. Previously this had been arranged through local police forces. The use of recovery powers is in accordance with strict guidance and instructions.

National Highways has its own national recovery contract used by traffic officers when removing vehicles on a statutory basis. Since October 2013, this service has been delivered by FMG support, who are appointed as the National Vehicle Recovery manager. FMG Support work via a national network of recovery operators, who are instructed to recover individual vehicles.

The powers to allow traffic officers to remove vehicles are detailed in the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles (Traffic Officers) (England) Regulations 2008.

Vehicles that are in a dangerous location or causing an obstruction can be removed at any time under Section 99 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984; in other cases motorists have two hours to make arrangements for recovery. Where they cannot make suitable arrangements in this time, under Section 99 a "statutory removal", subject to strict controls, can be invoked.

Regional operations centres

Seven regional operational control centres, formerly known as regional control centres, are dispersed around England and serve as the control rooms for everyday operations.

Control centres answer the orange emergency roadside telephones on the motorway and trunk road network, liaise with breakdown organisations, allocate traffic officers to incidents, monitor the CCTV system, control the electronic variable-message signs on the roads and supply information to the NTCC. Some RCCs are co-located with the police.

External links

• National Highways YouTube channel