[2] Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews,[1] the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state.

"[5] A signature shot of the series is fedora-wearing Matthews barking rapid-fire dialogues into a radio microphone as he leans against the door of his black and white patrol car.

[citation needed] During the four years of its run, Highway Patrol would feature many actors who would later become successful stars in their own right, among them Stuart Whitman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Conrad, Larry Hagman, Barbara Eden, Paul Burke, Leonard Nimoy, and Ruta Lee.

Other notable Los Angeles area locations include Griffith Park, as well as Bronson Canyon just above Hollywood.

A key element of the show is two-way radio communication among patrol cars and headquarters, with heavy use of police code "10-4" (meaning "acknowledged").

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wrote five episodes, sometimes using the pseudonym "Robert Wesley".

Future producer Quinn Martin was sound supervisor in the show's early years; style elements of Highway Patrol are evident in his later productions (The Untouchables, The Fugitive, Barnaby Jones, The Invaders, The FBI and The Streets of San Francisco).

[2] By August 1957, more than 200 stations in the United States carried the show, and in some markets it drew a larger audience than network programs.

[12] The Billboard's Fourth Annual Program and Talent Awards named Highway Patrol the best syndicated film series on the market.

[20][21] MAD Magazine spoofed Highway Patrol in its October 1960 issue (#58), with Mort Drucker providing caricatures of Crawford and other cast members.

After chatting about Highway Patrol, Officer Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox) says, tongue-in-cheek, "they don't make TV shows like that anymore.

To mark the 75th anniversary of the CHP in 2004, the late Los Angeles City Council Member Tom LaBonge, District 4 (which includes parts of Hollywood) asked his "Dollar a Year Man"[24] Gary Goltz to come up with an idea.

They are often joined by Erik Estrada, Kent McCord and other stars of classic cop TV shows.

"The Star and the Car" a documentary about Goltz and his 1955 Broderick Crawford "Highway Patrol" Buick was released in 2018.

In 2019 "Broderick Crawford Starring in Highway Patrol" a book on the series written by Goltz was released.