Shoulder (road) Shoulder (road) A shoulder, or hard shoulder is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right in countries which drive on the right, or on the left side in India, Japan, the UK, Australia, and other left-side driving countries. Many wider US and Swedish freeways have shoulders on both sides of each directional carriageway, in the median as well as at the outer edges of the road, for additional safety. Shoulders are not intended for use by through traffic, although there are exceptions (see below). Shoulders have multiple uses, including: The shoulder is
Level crossings in the United Kingdom signed on 14 March 1957, and automatic and automated crossings came into use, with the first automatically operated level crossing commencing operation at Spath near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire in May 1961. Automatic half-barrier crossings later came into being after another enquiry abroad in 1963, consisting of a single arm each side of the road, which block only oncoming traffic leaving the exits clear for trapped occupants. Half barriers were considered to have an advantage as they have a lesser closure time and do not require to be interlocked with signals, but cases where impatient motorists have driven around the barriers