"Dave Head" > wrote in message
...
>
> Had a big backup on I-74 south of Indianapolis once. There was an exit
> about
> 1/4 mile up the road, and having put on a road rally in the area, and
> knowing
> about every back road there was around there, I knew that if I got to that
> exit, I could parallel the interestate for about 10 miles and go around
> whatever the delay was. I pulled into the breakdown lane to pass everyone
> and
> access the exit, and asshole trucker pulls into the breakdown lane just to
> block me. WTF does he care that I get down the road? Anyway, I just
> drove the
> AWD Eclipse into the wide, shallow, grassy ditch and continued. Was
> hoping to
> see him attempt to block me there - that damn rig would probably have
> rolled
> over in the soft dirt... but he didn't. Pity. If it ****ed him off, then
> my
> strategy worked...

Those are tough situations. I think you had every right to do what you did
and I would never begrudge someone doing it.

The problem is when people use it as a lane to try to get ahead of the queue
and then discover up ahead that they need to merge back into traffic because
of the construction/obstruction/accident/whatever. Then they cause the
backup to worse for the people who are waiting their turn.

I wish there were a way to signal one's intentions when one is using that
lane just to get the fudge off the roadway via the exit just ahead rather
than just using the shoulder as an illegal passing lane.

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