The Story of a Traffic Police Officer

"We should deploy a larger police force on major sections and work closely with other departments to brace ourselves for possible traffic congestion， car accidents and bad weather during the travel peaks of the May Day holiday，" said Qi Long while patrolling the expressway section under his jurisdiction with his colleagues on April 25. This was part of the precautions that he planned for the peak traffic flow in the upcoming May Day holiday.

Qi joined the police force in 1999 and has been dedicated to expressway traffic safety management for 24 years since. Career-minded and strong-willed， he has vigorously explored new ways to manage traffic and created new models for fulfilling his duties. Through this he has ensured smooth traffic flow and safe travels on the expressway section under his administration.

In April 2023， Qi Long was awarded the "National May Day Labor Medal" by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. "This great honor will motivate me to keep marching forward and stick to my duties， and I will do my best to improve traffic flow and increase traffic safety，" he says.

Ready to Sacrifice

At 9：00 am on April 25， several tourist buses from Henan Province drew into the Shijiazhuang South Service Area along the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. Qi Long and his colleagues boarded the buses to remind  the travelers of traffic safety and affix a sign reading "please keep your seat belt fastened during your whole trip" on each of the bus.

A 32-kilometer-long section of the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway and a 27-kilometer-long section of the Shijiazhuang South Ring Expressway come under the jurisdiction of Qi's team. These sections contain two tunnels， two parking areas and one service area， with the average daily traffic volume reaching approximately 30，000 vehicles.

"The advent of the peak tourist season has brought an increasing number of buses. It is essential for us guys to enhance public awareness for safety，" says Qi. The Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway is a busy thoroughfare connecting Shanxi Province and Shandong Province，  characterized heavy traffic flows dominated by large numbers of heavy-duty trucks. This makes it a top priority to check if any truck drivers are， for example， driving while tired.

At 11：00 am， Qi's team members found during a routine check that a truck driver from Shanxi had been behind the steering wheel for more than four hours， the time limit before truck drivers are required to take a break. They educated the driver about the danger of fatigue while driving and imposed a fine for his dangerous behavior， warning him to take a sufficiently long rest before continuing his journey.

"This is an accident-prone period in which drivers are prone to tire. We should take preemptive measures， strengthen the control and management of traffic flow and volume， and pay attention to key times and expressway sections to quickly identify potential risks and ensure travelers a safe journey，" Qi stresses.

To spot and eliminate potential safety risks promptly and guard against traffic accidents， Qi's team leverages technology to combine physical and virtual patrols to monitor and rectify illegal activity on the expressway. His team also partners with the authorities responsible for road administration， accident cleanup， and road maintenance to establish a joint work platform for the traffic safety of the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. All relevant authorities have their own patrol fleets organized into different groups， each one equipped with an interconnected radio and GPS. All the groups are coordinated by Qi's team. In case of extreme weather or emergency， these groups come to timely rescue， maximizing efficiency a lot.

"Whenever holidays and festivals arrive， my team of 18 police officers and five auxiliary officers take their posts around the clock. We monitor traffic conditions， direct traffic flow， deal with traffic accidents， and guard against emergency events， all for the purpose of a safe， orderly and expeditious flow of traffic on our expressway section and beyond，" says Qi.

Qi's team's years of diligent sevices have been rewarded with an improved traffic situation on this section of road， and has won them the praise of passing travelers. For years， Qi's team has been ranked by their head office as an exceptional group， and Qi has also been honored three medals of merit for his outstanding performance.

Well-rounded innovator

At 2 pm on April 25， a vehicle registered in Shaanxi eased into the Shijiazhuang South Service Area with a heavy load of hazardous chemicals aboard. On seeing the vehicle， Qi and his associates hurried up to the driver： "Excuse me. You should pay more heed to the traffic safety of your vehicle，" they said. He wrote down detailed information related to the vehicle and the driver and handed a notice to the driver on regulations for vehicles carrying hazardous chemicals.

Vehicles of this kind account for a large proportion of traffic on this expressway section. In response， from 2020 Qi's team began carrying out surveys to count the number of tourist buses， passenger buses， and dangerous goods vehicles that pass through the section. They entered the information of those vehicles and the operating companies into an electronic archive and then inked a letter of responsibility and an agreement with those companies to clarify their responsibilities for vehicle safety. Additionally， they launched publicity campaigns around their police workstation to enhance drivers' safety awareness.