Worksheet: Keeping Order on the Roads: Traffic

When he wrote his paper ‘Our Mounting Traffic Problems’ in 1957, Captain Popkess was keen for the police to be aware of changes in society and to employ new methods and new forms of technology. This is a long and detailed document presenting Popkess’s paper to the chief constables and a paraphrase of the debate that surrounded it.

Before the students read the document ask them to think about when traffic problems began. Ask them to read the document and then to discuss:

  1. Whether Popkess was right in the argument presented in this paper, and is there anything that the police, or any other body, might have done to solve the problems of traffic congestion that have occurred in the last half century.
  2. Are the police the best agency to deal with traffic congestion? If not, who else might do so?
  3. The police are often criticised for ‘picking’ on motorists. Is this criticism fair? What can the police do to prevent such criticism?
  4. Is it fair to say that many ‘good citizens’ are ‘bad motorists’; and if so, what can be done about it?
The summary of Popkess's paper on 'Our Mounting Traffic Problems'

Click on the image for a larger view.

Links to the other worksheets are:

Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Police Service

Definitions

Police/Public Relations

Order on the Roads

Equality and Gender

Work Sheets

Resources

Acknowledgements