What does it mean that the highway shoulder is passable?
2 Answers
Driving on the highway shoulder refers to motor vehicles driving on the shoulder of the highway. The shoulder refers to the part located on the far right, which is the section from the edge of the road surface to the edge of the roadbed on both sides of the highway (including the earthen shoulder and the hard shoulder). According to relevant laws and regulations, motor vehicles driving on the highway shoulder will be fined and penalized with 6 demerit points. Right shoulder: For a four-lane highway with a design speed of 120km/h, a right hard shoulder of 3.50m is recommended. For six-lane and eight-lane highways, a right hard shoulder of 3.0m is recommended. When restricted by terrain conditions or other special circumstances, the minimum value can be adopted. Left shoulder: For eight-lane and above highways with an integral cross-section, it is neither safe nor practical for vehicles that break down or run out of fuel to cross several lanes to stop on the right shoulder. Based on experience, a hard shoulder of at least 2.5m wide should be provided on the left side for broken-down vehicles to park or wait to be towed away.
I remember driving for over 20 years, so I'm quite familiar with the concept of highway shoulder driving. It means that during severe congestion on certain sections of the highway, traffic management authorities temporarily open the shoulder to allow vehicle passage, effectively adding an extra lane to ease traffic flow. I've followed the signs and driven on the shoulder several times during rush hour traffic jams, and it felt significantly faster than staying in the main lanes. However, extra caution is needed because shoulders aren't designed for normal driving—they often have rocks, debris, or potholes, making it easy to lose control at higher speeds. Not to mention the risk of delaying emergency vehicles—it's simply too dangerous. My advice to everyone stuck in highway traffic is to first confirm if official signals permit shoulder driving. If there are no instructions, stay in the main lanes—safety is far more important than saving a few minutes. Developing the habit of checking road signs and traffic broadcasts can help prevent accidents.
