In America it would instantly be filled by cunts trying to cheat their way through traffic.
this post was submitted on 14 May 2026
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In Germany, we have laws for that.
We literally have this. We call it the "shoulder".
Right? Around here, each side of a divided highway has two travel lanes marked. There is a narrow shoulder on the left, and a wide shoulder on the right, either of which is adequate for emergency vehicles.
The intended purpose is to facilitate future construction. There is enough room on each side of the median for three lanes plus a narrow shoulder. They can put up a temporary k-rail median and repaint the lane lines to move a lane of traffic across the normal median. They can completely close a lane of traffic for repairs, while retaining at least two lanes (plus a narrow breakdown lane) in each direction.
But why do they need 2 lanes?
Do you see 2 white lines inside the empty space? No? Then it's not two lanes being kept free. Everyone is just at the very edge of their own lane. Sometimes lanes are just wide, it doesn't usually look like this.
I dont get it.
Here the shoulder is traversable. Like its wide enough to drive down.
We dont do this because emergency services just drive down the shoulder.
What would you prefer? An uninterrupted lane or one where you have to get past broken down cars/merging traffic, ...
In a situation where every second can count, it's easy to see why Germany (among other countries) does this.
We have an uninterrupted emergency lane.
We give our emergency traffic both the left and the right shoulder to get where they need to go. You give them one lane in the middle; we give them two lanes on the sides.
The left shoulder is an uninterrupted lane. The right shoulder is our breakdown lane. We very rarely enter or exit a divided highway on the left.
I've seen this happen, and it almost looked like that exact spot. I feel like this is between Berlin and Wittstock.
A+ happy German narration.
so frustrating to drive in germany and then come back to the us with so many inconsiderate idiots around.
Honestly I blame speed limits. On the autobahn you know “if you’re slower, move over”. In the US, inevitably there is someone camping the left lane saying “I’m doing the limit so i have every right to use this as the long distance lane”
Buuut if they're going the speed limit, how are you supposed to overtake them anyway? You wouldn't break the speed limit, would you?
He is right. Do not cross the speed limit or make others cross it. Or if you are really in hurry just use right lane don't be beemer guy
Go drive in an Asian country and come back. The difference is incredible
Anecdotally, 40-ish years ago, one of my mom's relatives came to visit from Poland. There are a whole lot of wild stories about that visit and from when my mom visited Poland around that same time that highlighted a lot of differences between life in the US and from behind the iron curtain at the time.
While he was here, her relative was amazed to see cars pulling off to the side to let emergency vehicles pass, that was apparently something totally new to him.
The idea that another road user might have higher priority is unfortunately anathema to drivers here.
If this even happened here the corridor would simply be full of utes.
I must be broken as often I'll let a bus out expressly thinking that a vehicle with 20 people in has to be more important than me.
I'm not in the US thou
Letting busses out: awesome.
It's actually really relaxing and de-stressing to be a considerate driver... right up until the ass tailgating you gets all uppity.
I'm in the UK so it's the norm (saying that, not sure if that applies to London). If they're indicating, you wouldn't dream of not letting them out.
It's more my thought pattern as I do
Excuse me, your honor, full of youths.
I understood that reference
That’s the plan. In real life, only few ambulances manage “to fly through”, there are always some jerks ignoring this rule.
Prisoners dilemma always wins.
Probably still massively speeds up response times though. I imagine it wouldn't be that hard to squeeze 2 cars in that given space allowing the emergency vehicle to get past the person not following the rules.
The photo example is extreme. It’s usually narrower.
Still though, Ive seen traffic in NYC keep an ambulance for two lights.
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This needs to be taught in the US and it needs to be enforced. If there’s two lanes on the road.(And I mean, two lanes going one way two lanes going the other way) Then, if it comes to a standstill everybody part so you have a center area that emergency services could drive in
Yeah you would need like 99.9% of the drivers in the US to agree to this. I don't think you could even get 70% of the selfish fucks on our roads to do this. Guaranteed 3 out of 10 cars would wonder why everyone else is a bunch of losers and head straight down the middle, which would never actually exist in the first place because 7 out of 10 cars being considerate is nowhere near enough...
Half of them would be too busy drooling into their laps to even notice what was going on.
Doing something for the good of people I don't even know? Sounds dangerously close to socialism! /s
Do emergency vehicles have right of way in the US? Ive seen so many videos of people blocking fire trucks and ambulances. A guy i knew got a hefty fine here in Norway for driving behind an ambulance. We don’t do like the germans, but we immediately make way for all blue lights
Legally, yes, it's even in the info they give at the DMV and I've even seen some people pull to the side (if for no other reason to copy those in front of them) but I know if we left an opening in the center in standstill traffic, some asshole would zoom down it almost immediately. And then probably several more, because again, they just copy each other.
I've had people follow me through traffic on the highway, doing what I do, and when they inevitably ride so close they can count the hairs on my head, I slow down to like 35; and they. Never. Get. The fucking. Hint.
I was driving in on an interstate one time, no other cars were around us, I was in the left lane going almost 80 and the person behind me was right up on my ass. So I go to the right lane and slow down to let them pass, and this motherfucker keeps right up on my ass, so I literally slow down to like 20, and they slow right on down with me for about 10 seconds until they finally realize what the fuck is going on.
People here in the US are all fucking goldfish I swear to God.
Logical, reasonable people do. Entitled ass holes usually do not move.
Enforced is the big thing. I don't know why police departments keep getting more money, thr money is right there on the highway waiting for them to get it. Every time drive I see people crossing the double white, abusing the big lane, speeding, swerving, even road raging. We have enough police in my city that there could be a cop in each directly every half mile of all of our interstates and they would make a huge profit. Just enforce the freaking laws we already have. Guaranteed they'll make that budget shortfall.
And we haven't even gotten into the whole "Drib up to ten over because no one cares"
The intrusive thought to just pull out and gun it down that road is fucking strong.
Which gets fucking expensive quick, because it's illegal and the probability is high that police and / or ambulance already are at the end of your race track
I mean that's why it's an intrusive thought instead of a good idea.
i see that regularly, when an ambulance carves out a lane there's always one or two impatient mfs following it
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