{{Short description|Tactic used during protests and demonstrations}} [[File:Just Stop Oil, Portsmouth, 9th Sept 2023 2.jpg|thumb|Just Stop Oil protesters on a roadway in Portsmouth, England, 2023]] '''Traffic obstruction''' is a common tactic used during public protests and political demonstrations.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Badger|first1=Emily|title=Why highways have become the center of civil rights protest|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/why-highways-have-become-the-center-of-civil-rights-protest/|accessdate=7 September 2017|newspaper=The Washington post|date=13 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Yongshun|first1=Cai|title=Collective Resistance in China: Why Popular Protests Succeed Or Fail|date=2010|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804763394|pages=110–111}}</ref>

== Legality == Most jurisdictions{{which|date=September 2020}} consider the obstruction of traffic an illegal activity and have developed rules to prosecute those who ''block, obstruct, impede, or otherwise interfere with the normal flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic upon a public street or highway''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/protesters-cant-block-roads-or-public-spaces-rules-sc/articleshow/78544230.cms|title=Supreme Court: Protesters can't block roads or public spaces, rules Supreme Court|website=The Times of India}}</ref> Some jurisdictions also penalize slow moving vehicle traffic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Law section |url=https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=21654 |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=leginfo.legislature.ca.gov}}</ref>

== Examples == Examples of intentional traffic obstructions aimed to articulate a protest agenda include Extinction Rebellion protests,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/ny-climate-protestors-arrested-new-york-times-building-20190623-42seicg3pbaq7onth6zztomju4-story.html |title=70 people arrested protesting climate change outside New York Times hq in Midtown|newspaper=New York Daily News |date=23 June 2019 |author1=Emilie Ruscoe |author2=Esha Ray}}</ref> air traffic controller strike, highway revolts, Critical Mass bicycle rides corking intersections, obstruction of rail transport of nuclear fuel in Germany, road blockades by farmers or truckers in France and other countries, impact on Eurotunnel operations by the Migrant Crisis around Calais, pipeline protests (e.g. Dakota Access Pipeline), etc. {{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

== See also == * Highway revolt * Barricade * Traffic bottleneck

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

<!--- Categories ---> Category:Traffic law Category:Transport reliability Category:Protest tactics Category:Anti-road protests Category:Civil disobedience