"Nate Nagel" > wrote in message
...
> brink wrote:
>> "Nate Nagel" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>>brink wrote:
>>>
>>>>"Dave Head" > wrote in message
m...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>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.
>>>
>>>If someone in good faith goes into an open travel lane only to "discover"
>>>(your word) that the lane closes after having passed other traffic, it's
>>>hard to fault them. It's an open travel lane, after all, and if everyone
>>>is merging correctly, they won't cause the backup to worsen in any case.
>>
>>
>> I'm not referring to an open travel lane, I'm referring to the paved or
>> unpaved shoulder which isn't an "open travel lane" in most states. It's
>> for emergency use only, and under any definition I sure wouldn't call it
>> open season for queue-jumping.
>>
>>
>>>Now people who use ramps to do this are another matter, and if they end
>>>up stuck at the end of a ramp until the heat death of the universe, eh,
>>>no skin off my nose.
>>
>>
>> Agreed.
>>
>>
>>>>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.
>>>
>>>You mean, like a directional signal?
>>
>>
>> Problem is, the directional signal is ambiguous. People will turn on
>> their signal and drive for a mile in that lane just to bypass traffic and
>> try to cut in ahead when someone lets the "poor guy" in.
>>
>> What's really too bad is what happens to guys like Dave who are -- in my
>> opinion, legitimately -- bypassing traffic just to make an *exit* 1000
>> feet ahead. No sense waiting in line when the exit is wide open and I'd
>> guess most other drivers don't have a problem with it either. What most
>> of us have a problem with is the people who abuse the privilege, so to
>> speak, of driving on the shoulder.
>>
>> brink
>
> There's an easy solution to that problem; watch your mirrors, and don't
> let anyone in that didn't come down an onramp.

tough to see that sometimes. These queues can stretch a *long* ways and if
there's say a big truck behind you -- or a bend in the road that is carrying
the roadway toward the left.

The other problem is that you and I won't let those people in, but of course
all it takes is one weak link in the chain. People know this and exploit
it. Which can *really* worsen the jam...

brink