You ’ve got places to go and people to see , yet you ’re stuck inch along the interstate highway at barely a escargot ’s pace . Your exit loom , but it ’s still relatively far away , and the empty shoulder joint ( unremarkably known to drivers as the emergency lane ) beckons . You ’d be reducing over-crowding if you drove on the shoulder , right ? What injury could it possibly do ? A lot , as it turn out .
" It ’s for emergency use of goods and services only and not for general travel . It does not count if you ’re just attempt to pass someone , " says Katie Fallon , public data officer with theGeorgia Governor ’s Office of Highway Safetyin an email interview .
A July 2017 ditch motortruck clangour on Interstate 85 in Fairburn , Georgia , inspired a number of motorists to hit the articulatio humeri or else of waiting in dealings like everyone else . Their actions caused major disruptions . " We had a HERO unit that was prevented from getting to the scene … and we had an ambulance that was not related to the chance event that had a patient on board that was trying to get to a local infirmary that could not get through the dealings because the parking brake lane was closed,“Fairburn Deputy Chief Anthony Bazydlo told WSB - TV . " Had this been a situation where the driver of the accident vehicle had aliveness - threatening combat injury , the ambulance would n’t have been able-bodied to get there . "
That ’s not to say that you ’ll never wind up drive on the shoulder . You ’re just not likely to have to , unless you or someone near you runs into a roadway problem . " Aside from their geomorphologic benefit for paving and drainage , articulatio humeri provide asylum for vehicles in emergency situations , entree for first responders , and an additional recovery surface area for drivers trying to avoid conflicts in the adjoining travelling lane , " explains theFederal Highway Administration ’s website .
However , number one wood can not utilise the emergency lane willy - nilly . " You should not travel in the emergency brake lane or lapse vehicles by using the emergency lane unless directed to do so by a jurisprudence enforcement functionary or first responder , " say Cpl . Sonny Collins of theSouth Carolina Highway Patrolin an email interview . " That would be a intrusion of state law and the gadget driver could be fined . "
Like virtually every other patrol matter , penalties deviate body politic - by - country . " In most cases , [ drivers ] can face healthy fines or even pokey time for passing or using the shoulder as a dealings lane , " says Tamra Johnson , spokesperson for theAAA Foundation for Traffic Safety . Points on your number one wood ’s license , which are assign based on dealings violations and can ensue in permission suspension or annulment , are another possible punishment .
Virginia - basedtraffic defense attorney Matt Pinskerhas represent legion clients cited for the offense . " Judges are sympathetic in the sense that no one likes baby-sit in traffic and we all understand the enticement of require to just get in that clear shoulder lane and go around all of it , " Pinsker says , " but we are all expect to follow the regulation … I ’ve had cases like that give the sack because my customer was improperly charged or the charge [ was ] reduced or dismissed . When it was shrink , the mulct has usually been about $ 50 to $ 100 . "
So , do your bank account and your fellow motorists and first responders a party favor and avoid driving on the berm unless you ’re in distress or an ship’s officer of the law directs you there .
