"Against traffic" or "Against the traffic"
The following first sentence comes from Wikipedia, which 'the' is not used before 'traffic', while the second one comes from BBC, which has 'the' before 'traffic'. I wonder if both usages are correct or not? If yes, is there a difference between these two sentences with and without 'the'? If no, which one is correct ?
For cycling in particular, collisions at intersections (defined broadly as "not only the junction of two roadways, but also points where driveways, sidewalks, or paths meet a roadway, or where sidewalks or paths meet a driveway") while traveling in the wrong direction against traffic has been determined to be over three times more likely for wrong-way cyclists.
The van was then spotted joining the M4 at junction 15 (Swindon east), driving against the traffic towards London on the westbound carriageway.
Solution 1:
If you are talking about traffic in general, as a common scenario, not specific to any road or incidence, then you can ommit "the". Example: "You often spot some people going against traffic on the streets near schools, which is very dangerous"
But when you are talking about a particular situation where the story happened and you want to mention traffic on some road, then use "the" to elaborate the incidence ("The" traffic which you talk about Example: "Police patrol saw the guy when they were passing by George Street. He was seen going against the traffic."