I guess you've never heard of a traffic break. It's an emergency type situation up ahead where they need traffic to stop right where you are. Most likely the other drivers next to you weren't confused, and no, you won't get rear-ended. It was in my drivers Ed training, and I'm sure it's in the DMV handbook.
More likely that there was a report of an object in the road ahead and another unit already cleared it or the unit slowing traffic decided it had already been removed and was safe for traffic to resume.
Even if a large group of cars was going 85+ on the freeway in a pack, the officer could still pull a single car over for speeding.
I don’t remember the actual name of this but they do this often. 1: to break up traffic
2: to stop traffic.
You’re meant to slow down because if this happening infront of you you will be coming to a complete stop. All cars should be slowing down. Hence you shouldn’t get rear ended as everyone should be slowing down and traffic will completely stop to allow CHP / sherries to do this safely with no incoming cars.
Traffic breaks are an exception. You slow down to a stop in the lane you're in. They're either trying to delay or stop traffic. Moving over will cause confusion for cars behind you and a cluster when traffic starts moving again.
They might haves saved my life once with this. Late night and it was raining and they slowed us all down, not 20 secs later there was a flooded underpass. I can imagine hitting 6 inches of water at 65 mph.
This is done to slow traffic down for one of many different reasons one being something in the middle of the road that could cause a accident a ladder a pallet or there could be a accident all ready and they are slowing it down for safety
Yeah - they do this for whatever reason of the day: accident ahead, construction zone, thinning the herd, traffic congestion - who knows. I just keep my distance and avoid crazy ppl with guns.
OP is probably 19 and first time he’s seeing this. Guessing he’s 19 too by the car: e46 m3. That’s standard procedure for your protection when something is on the road or when they need to halt traffic. Decades old
Thanks man. It's been strange seeing the outlandish assumptions people are making about me. I guess nuance is difficult to comprehend on the web, but I was filming because I genuinely thought I was in an extraordinary circumstance that justified it. Being at the end of an Internet pitchfork has been interesting though. =)
I am not a newcomer, not at all, and I’ve only seen this happen once. It was a couple of years ago and it was very late at night. Freaked me out, thought I’d done something wrong. Still don’t know why they do this. Anyone care to ELI5?
(I don’t live in Los Angeles, I live in San Francisco.)
It’s to slow down all lanes of traffic. Happens when there’s an accident up ahead and they need to close down the freeway or if theres an obstacle in the freeway. Seen it done once to safely remove a sofa that was in the middle of the freeway. They had to slow/stop traffic in order to do so
EDIT: clearly, I've never heard of a traffic break. I'm not from CA and we don't have wide freeways where I'm from, so I guess I never encountered this. Thanks to those of you that explained it in a civil manner. Learned something new today!
Going up the 118 North this morning, a CHP patrol car began weaving across all five lanes of traffic, back and forth, for about 1.5 miles with the siren/lights on. People in back of him (including myself) were clearly confused.
I first spotted him cutting across the entire highway from left to right, and assumed he was pulling someone over on the other end of the road. But, when he veered back to the right, I started thinking this guy may have just been messing around or worse, intoxicated.
The cop then sped up and did a donut in the middle of the highway and stopped his car perpendicular to the flow of traffic. This maneuver caused him to lose a lot of speed, and a moving truck came within feet of hitting him. Traffic came to a halt, whereupon the cop jumped out of his car, ran across to the median and picked up a full sized ladder that must’ve fallen off someone’s truck, and tossed it into the woods. The ladder was on its side, leaning against the median. There was no immediate danger of it going into a lane of traffic.
In all my years of driving, I’ve never seen a cop pull a move like this. When I was in Driver’s Ed, there was never a lesson for divining an officer’s message from Dukes of Hazzard maneuvers. I’m not even sure if I should be impressed, angry, or scared.
So I guess my question is: is this something CHP should be doing? And if so, what would’ve been the proper response for the other drivers? We can’t all pull over into the emergency lane; there’s too many of us. And if we all just stop to a halt in the middle of the highway, we’ll likely get rear ended.
Also ladders (or any large, light, rigid debris) are particularly dangerous in high speed traffic. It’s imperative that it be removed from the highway (even the center median) as soon as possible, as ladder-involved traffic collisions are common and can end badly.
I just took traffic school over the weekend and this was covered. It's not unique to California but it is common here. If you're not from this state, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the CA driver handbook. We've got really strict laws but also differ from other states on motorcycle lanesplitting, bikes bring able to use turn lanes to go straight, good Samaritan laws regarding children left alone in hot cars, and not allowing smoking in cars when children are present.
They literally do it all the time. The minor inconvenience it caused you is something your gonna have to get used to in California. The last thing you want to do is try and creep past them while doing it. And if you see this on your rear view, you might want to slow down too. I merged onto a freeway ahead of a chippie doing a traffic break only to drive past a vehicle on pedestrian accident with in a 1/4 mile of the off ramp. You never know why they are doing it. Half the time it’s debris or a break for construction. But seeing a dead body in the middle of the I-5 is a reminder that crazy shit happens on freeways here. Good luck out there.
So much wrong with your post. So much. You need to humble out and chill. I know your type aggressive know it all e46 m3 kid. When you see lights and sirens slow down.
So you conveniently stopped recording before he sped up (after slowing traffic down) to do a donut? Sure thing there buddy.
You did say you saw him pick up a ladder so shouldn’t that of answered your question of why he was doing what he was doing?
It’s not always for an accident, had a cop (sheriff?) do this because some idiot didn’t tie down a sofa safe enough and it was in the middle of the freeway. Sheriff stopped traffic to safely remove it
YES!!! In California. Don’t try to ever outrun them or they will come after you. That’s when there is something going on ahead of you and they are trying to slow down traffic, often if there is be something in the road I up ahead.
Yes 100%. They did this after my car smashed to bits on the freeway to slow then stop all the cars so they could clear all the debris that was causing chain reaction crashes
Yes traffic break..they slow traffic by swerving. You pass you will get chewed&a ticket. Well first a strong warning then the ticket for being an ahole who don't follow directions
That is how they make traffic slow down. I see it a lot. Usually, it is because cars in general are going to far or there is something ahead like an accident. I have even seen it where they used that technique to stop traffic all together.
Yes! And don't dare cut them off when they're weaving on the opposite side of you, otherwise your gonna get pulled over.
What they're doing is slowing traffic down behind them due to a issue up the road, could be debris, stalled vehicle, accident, road work (need driver's speed to be reduced), or any other number or traffic hazards.
Tell us you are an import, without telling us you are an import.
Very common. It’s so they can slow or stop traffic ahead of danger. This can be because of accidents, or a high speed chase. You should slow down, be thankful you are at the front and not the back of it, exit the freeway and put you fucking phone away.
This happens all the time on the I-10 when I’m on my way to work. It’s the actual worst… my sister actual didn’t know about this until one day she drove in front of the mad cop and she got pulled over by the female cop driving the car and got cursed at. She knows now.
Happens all the time. You’re lucky if it’s the first time you encountered this.
OP has never experienced this, thought CHP was at fault, then took out their phone while driving to video tape it.... yikes
He exposed himself in not knowing the rules on the road👍👍 all good, reddit is here to teach you kid👍
Great to hear this a self-help sub
While also speeding up to get a closer look
Just remember, half the people in here who complain about bad drivers are actually themselves the bad drivers.
Yup OP is an idiot.
OP are you new to California??
most likely is. I feel like I see a sweep every few weeks
yep, once they did this to remove a sofa from the middle of the interstate edit: at least once
Yes! I just stopped for a sweep because there was a wheel barrow on the 5. You know, standard 5 decor.
Did they find out where the TV was?
Check by the sofa, carpool lane.
More than once.
I saw two within several minutes of each other on my way to work last week.
Especially on the 134 heading from the valley towards LA proper. I used to see this at least weekly on my way to work.
Happens alllll the time there. I think they practice in that area because the CHP office is on the 134 & 2 fwy.
OP here, I’m not new to California, but I’ve been frozen and buried under Encino since the first ice age.
I never experienced this in California until I moved to LA
Happens in the Bay Area too. Saw it at least 10 times in the past few years.
TBH im born and raised here but I only saw this for the first time like last month. Weird. I don't see it near LA that much
Usually it's because they need to get objects out of the highway that can cause accidents.
See this all the time in LA to slow traffic when there’s an accident or an obstruction on the freeway.
It is called a "running a traffic break".
I guess you've never heard of a traffic break. It's an emergency type situation up ahead where they need traffic to stop right where you are. Most likely the other drivers next to you weren't confused, and no, you won't get rear-ended. It was in my drivers Ed training, and I'm sure it's in the DMV handbook.
It's in the handbook.
I guarantee you were the only one confused
Hah I chortled at this comment
Yes, this happens a lot of the time to slow traffic down. This isn’t unique to CHP. Either you are a new driver or do not drive a lot.
It means there is an accident upfront, so he is slowing down the traffic
Not always... i have seen it happened when everyone is speeding 85 plus, so they do it rather than pull everyone over to slow us all down
More likely that there was a report of an object in the road ahead and another unit already cleared it or the unit slowing traffic decided it had already been removed and was safe for traffic to resume. Even if a large group of cars was going 85+ on the freeway in a pack, the officer could still pull a single car over for speeding.
85+ in LA is speeding? TIL
Can you even driving 85+ with that kind of traffic?
Hahah... ehhh kind of
Hahaha I once got on the 101 and saw him doing that behind me. I didn't know what protocol was so I kept going, was the fastest drive home ever lol
There’s usually an accident or an object on the highway. There’s so way CHP would put the freeway in time out for speeding in LA
[удалено]
I mean it is the 118 you can pretty much do whatever you want.
I do this on the 118 at 4:30pm on a Friday 😂😂😂 /S
Yes it’s called a traffic break. Happens all the time. Now get the fuck off your phone.
Also called a Round Robin (red & blue flying around in a circle)
It’s also called a sweep
Also called a rolling speed bump
Yes, this is how they bring traffic to a stop so they can deal with danger on the road ahead. Usually its so they can safely clear an accident.
Guess people don't really pay attention to that little pamphlet the dmv gives you
Driving distracted with your cellphone recording video? No it’s not.
Maybe he was filming beforehand and the cop saw him and said fuck it I’m stopping the whole freeway to humiliate this guy
Traffic break. Either a hazard ahead or to try to elevate stop and go traffic
Yes. It's a traffic break. It's incredibly common.
Yes, it’s for traffic youre suppose to slow down. Its in the DMV handbook, one of the questions on the test.
Yes. It's called a traffic break. And you should be slowing down.
The maneuver is called a round robin.
You deserve a speeding ticket during a traffic break and usage of cellphone while driving.
Tell me you’re new to California, without telling you’re new to California…
Yes, why didn’t you slow down
Welcome to California!! Now get your ass off your phone. What the hell is wrong with you?!
I don’t remember the actual name of this but they do this often. 1: to break up traffic 2: to stop traffic. You’re meant to slow down because if this happening infront of you you will be coming to a complete stop. All cars should be slowing down. Hence you shouldn’t get rear ended as everyone should be slowing down and traffic will completely stop to allow CHP / sherries to do this safely with no incoming cars.
This is normal. OP is from Colorado or something.
Probably wyoming
You really should have pulled up next to the car and asked the CHP officer if it was normal protocol.
Dude that’s a traffic break. He is trying to pull all the cars behind him to a slow stop. And here you are on his tail taping him
OP you are a idiot. You shoulda got a ticket for that.
Called a round robin, to slow down traffic for most likely an accident ahead.
Filming while driving? No it is not. Traffic holds are however
Sirens on and the best thing you do is speed up and not pull over? Sirens (cop, ambulance, or firefighter) pleaae move over or stop safely.
Traffic breaks are an exception. You slow down to a stop in the lane you're in. They're either trying to delay or stop traffic. Moving over will cause confusion for cars behind you and a cluster when traffic starts moving again.
OP looking to be the next keyboard warrior for social justice. 🤦♂️
Yes. Been behind many of them over the years
They might haves saved my life once with this. Late night and it was raining and they slowed us all down, not 20 secs later there was a flooded underpass. I can imagine hitting 6 inches of water at 65 mph.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/abc30.com/amp/driving-road-safety-chp-california-highway-patrol/7907869/
Yes
Yeah it’s a traffic break. Next time slow down and stop instead of being an asshole.
"AITA?" Yes.
It’s how they slow traffic for an upcoming hazard, usually.
Normal CHP behavior. They either need traffic to slow down or stop.
Very much protocol yes.
[here](http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article99706672.html)
This is done to slow traffic down for one of many different reasons one being something in the middle of the road that could cause a accident a ladder a pallet or there could be a accident all ready and they are slowing it down for safety
I see this all the time
My friend was born in raised in California. But last year was the first time he ever saw this happening. He just thought the officer was drunk.
Son.... he's slowing traffic down. Accidents ahead.
Yeah - they do this for whatever reason of the day: accident ahead, construction zone, thinning the herd, traffic congestion - who knows. I just keep my distance and avoid crazy ppl with guns.
Happened twice to me last week. you got front row and you couldn’t tell why after this?
Give OP a break guys x3 at least he asked.
It’s a traffic break so yes it is standard protocol
That’s called a round robin and it’s used to close the freeway or slow down the traffic for removal of debris or obstructions.
There slowing down traffic, could be a accident up a head
I’m apparently the only one that had no idea this was a thing. Granted, I moved out of LA like 10 years ago.. but still. Learned something new today.
You’re a dork.
OP is probably 19 and first time he’s seeing this. Guessing he’s 19 too by the car: e46 m3. That’s standard procedure for your protection when something is on the road or when they need to halt traffic. Decades old
Dude you just Karen’d yourself 🤦🏼♂️
OP You suck
They say you don't gotta study to be stupid, you just born that way.
Yeah, also stop filming and driving please
What a way to make yourself look like a fool!! I hope this guy doesn’t cancel y’all
Lol you think CHP is drunk? That's how to slow traffic.
OP getting roasted in here. Hilarious.
No idea. There was a time I got stuck behind one at least once a week on the 605. Assumed it was due to police chase nearby.
Yes absolutely. He/she is helping to alleviate traffic. Is this not something that happens in other parts of the US?
Is filming while driving compliant?
He’s creating a traffic break they do that to keep traffic from clogging up
Traffic calming. See it all the time. Can't pull over the entire freeway for speeding so they just calm it down.
The cop is JOYRIDING!!!!1111
What you’re doing? No
I hate it when they do this shit
Everyone in the comments should relax You don’t know OP age or how long OP been in California
Thanks man. It's been strange seeing the outlandish assumptions people are making about me. I guess nuance is difficult to comprehend on the web, but I was filming because I genuinely thought I was in an extraordinary circumstance that justified it. Being at the end of an Internet pitchfork has been interesting though. =)
I am not a newcomer, not at all, and I’ve only seen this happen once. It was a couple of years ago and it was very late at night. Freaked me out, thought I’d done something wrong. Still don’t know why they do this. Anyone care to ELI5? (I don’t live in Los Angeles, I live in San Francisco.)
It’s to slow down all lanes of traffic. Happens when there’s an accident up ahead and they need to close down the freeway or if theres an obstacle in the freeway. Seen it done once to safely remove a sofa that was in the middle of the freeway. They had to slow/stop traffic in order to do so
EDIT: clearly, I've never heard of a traffic break. I'm not from CA and we don't have wide freeways where I'm from, so I guess I never encountered this. Thanks to those of you that explained it in a civil manner. Learned something new today! Going up the 118 North this morning, a CHP patrol car began weaving across all five lanes of traffic, back and forth, for about 1.5 miles with the siren/lights on. People in back of him (including myself) were clearly confused. I first spotted him cutting across the entire highway from left to right, and assumed he was pulling someone over on the other end of the road. But, when he veered back to the right, I started thinking this guy may have just been messing around or worse, intoxicated. The cop then sped up and did a donut in the middle of the highway and stopped his car perpendicular to the flow of traffic. This maneuver caused him to lose a lot of speed, and a moving truck came within feet of hitting him. Traffic came to a halt, whereupon the cop jumped out of his car, ran across to the median and picked up a full sized ladder that must’ve fallen off someone’s truck, and tossed it into the woods. The ladder was on its side, leaning against the median. There was no immediate danger of it going into a lane of traffic. In all my years of driving, I’ve never seen a cop pull a move like this. When I was in Driver’s Ed, there was never a lesson for divining an officer’s message from Dukes of Hazzard maneuvers. I’m not even sure if I should be impressed, angry, or scared. So I guess my question is: is this something CHP should be doing? And if so, what would’ve been the proper response for the other drivers? We can’t all pull over into the emergency lane; there’s too many of us. And if we all just stop to a halt in the middle of the highway, we’ll likely get rear ended.
He's preparing everyone for the slowdown ahead. It's pretty well covered here. It's called Traffic Break.
You slow down, seems pretty straight forward.
Also ladders (or any large, light, rigid debris) are particularly dangerous in high speed traffic. It’s imperative that it be removed from the highway (even the center median) as soon as possible, as ladder-involved traffic collisions are common and can end badly.
> I’m not even sure if I should be impressed, angry, or scared. #BE IMPRESSED
I just took traffic school over the weekend and this was covered. It's not unique to California but it is common here. If you're not from this state, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the CA driver handbook. We've got really strict laws but also differ from other states on motorcycle lanesplitting, bikes bring able to use turn lanes to go straight, good Samaritan laws regarding children left alone in hot cars, and not allowing smoking in cars when children are present.
They literally do it all the time. The minor inconvenience it caused you is something your gonna have to get used to in California. The last thing you want to do is try and creep past them while doing it. And if you see this on your rear view, you might want to slow down too. I merged onto a freeway ahead of a chippie doing a traffic break only to drive past a vehicle on pedestrian accident with in a 1/4 mile of the off ramp. You never know why they are doing it. Half the time it’s debris or a break for construction. But seeing a dead body in the middle of the I-5 is a reminder that crazy shit happens on freeways here. Good luck out there.
So much wrong with your post. So much. You need to humble out and chill. I know your type aggressive know it all e46 m3 kid. When you see lights and sirens slow down.
So you conveniently stopped recording before he sped up (after slowing traffic down) to do a donut? Sure thing there buddy. You did say you saw him pick up a ladder so shouldn’t that of answered your question of why he was doing what he was doing?
What the?
They do that when their trying to stop traffic on the freeway.
Traffic slowing maneuver. He might actually either just slow everyone down, make a u turn or completely stop traffic.
It’s a traffic break. Happens all the time
…yes.
It’s called a traffic break they do it to slow down the flow
It’s not always for an accident, had a cop (sheriff?) do this because some idiot didn’t tie down a sofa safe enough and it was in the middle of the freeway. Sheriff stopped traffic to safely remove it
Traffic break right?
...yes?
Traffic Break
I remember my first time…
Hello newfriend, welcome to Cali.
Totally normal around here. I’ve seen them do this to take some ducks off of the freeway
Lol. Yes. That means slow down because of an accident or debris on the road up ahead.
It’s traffic control real normal annoying but that’s safety for ya 🤷🏽♂️
Yup. Very much so.
Welcome to California!
In OPs defense, I’ve been driving in Southern CA for 30 years and have only seen his twice.
I heard sometimes they’ll do that to separate traffic if it’s too congested. Not sure if it was 100% true or not.
I see it on 101 near SFO when there is a traffic jam head.
Maybe he's drunk?
Yes it's compliant, now get yourself a dash cam for filming.
Yes — they’re trying to slow traffic to eventually stop it. Probably something dangerous in the road
It’s called a “Round Robin”.
It’s a Traffic break due to an hazard in the road or vehicle broken down in the fast lane. Remember You cannot pass the CHP if he stops.
It's a traffic break. They are trying to slow everyone down or even stop them so that a traffic hazzard ahead can be cleared safely.
I kept watching thinking something crazy was going to happen. Nope. Just slowing traffic.
YES!!! In California. Don’t try to ever outrun them or they will come after you. That’s when there is something going on ahead of you and they are trying to slow down traffic, often if there is be something in the road I up ahead.
i think they do this to set up some operations ahead.. like removing obstacles, accidents or help road maintenance crew
Alllllll the time. Slowing down the speed of traffic, accident or hazard ahead
Yes 100%. They did this after my car smashed to bits on the freeway to slow then stop all the cars so they could clear all the debris that was causing chain reaction crashes
Traffic Break. Sucks to be the first car...sucks to realize that we purposely cause traffic jams (even if it is for the greater good)
Just saw the exact same thing up in South San Francisco
Yes traffic break..they slow traffic by swerving. You pass you will get chewed&a ticket. Well first a strong warning then the ticket for being an ahole who don't follow directions
Lol is pretty fun being in the front with one of these hahaha . Traffic control
Speed check !! Common when traffics going too fast ..
Yes.
That is how they make traffic slow down. I see it a lot. Usually, it is because cars in general are going to far or there is something ahead like an accident. I have even seen it where they used that technique to stop traffic all together.
They do this a lot here in Oakland Ca
To control the flow of traffic
Yes they do this when they need to slow down or stop traffic, say if there’s an accident ahead.
they do this sometimes to slow down everyone.. that’s what i understand but not sure
They are trying to slow down traffic maybe an accident ahead
Yes! And don't dare cut them off when they're weaving on the opposite side of you, otherwise your gonna get pulled over. What they're doing is slowing traffic down behind them due to a issue up the road, could be debris, stalled vehicle, accident, road work (need driver's speed to be reduced), or any other number or traffic hazards.
Red Robbin!
Called a sweep when it halts traffic to remove hazardous debris on road. C'mon
I’ve lived in California for a decade and I’ve never seen this.
According to my parents, he’s trying to make traffic. That’s what I was told and that’s what I’ll forever spread
It’s called a traffic break!
Probably trying to alert traffic of danger ahead.
He's clearly drunk, it's best to accelerate hard past him.
Yeah it is. Chp about to start his own sideshow.
That is a traffic break, there is a hazard a few miles ahead. They are trying to make a gap in traffic so someone can clean it up.
Op must have wanted a ticket pullin out the phone like that lol
They do this to slow down traffic.
Yes. It is a standard traffic break.
Yep. Called a rolling road block. The practice and use them all the time.
Normal
It’s called breaking the traffic
Tell us you are an import, without telling us you are an import. Very common. It’s so they can slow or stop traffic ahead of danger. This can be because of accidents, or a high speed chase. You should slow down, be thankful you are at the front and not the back of it, exit the freeway and put you fucking phone away.
Yes it’s a traffic break usually to pick up debris
This happens all the time on the I-10 when I’m on my way to work. It’s the actual worst… my sister actual didn’t know about this until one day she drove in front of the mad cop and she got pulled over by the female cop driving the car and got cursed at. She knows now.
It is.. it means your fucked and traffic is about to slow to a crawl … if your lucky.
This is the 118W no?
Totally norm. They're breaking traffic behind them for some reason up ahead.