{"id":2069,"date":"2019-02-25T10:27:50","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T10:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2019-02-25T16:01:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:01:08","slug":"how-to-use-the-hard-shoulder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/how-to-use-the-hard-shoulder","title":{"rendered":"When and how to use the hard shoulder"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><strong>The hard shoulder:<\/strong> A narrow emergency lane along the left of a motorway, <br\/>separated by a solid white line.<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"row\">\r\n<div class=\"col-8-12\">\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p>Most deaths on the hard shoulder happen within 30 minutes of the driver pulling over. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Using this part of the motorway should be an absolute last resort, for a breakdown or emergency.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It's not a nice place to be, which is why you always need to be on top of your <a href=\"\/young-drivers-guide\/category\/running-a-car\" title=\"Running a car\" target=\"_blank\">car maintenance<\/a> and motorway safety knowledge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"col-4-12\">\r\n\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder.jpg\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder-100x100.jpg 100w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder-100x100.jpg 100w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder-200x200.jpg 200w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder-150x150.jpg 150w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/highways-agency-hard-shoulder.jpg 240w\" alt=\"highways-agency-hard-shoulder\" width=\"240\" align=\"right\" height=\"240\"  \/>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<h2>When to use the hard shoulder<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>When your car has broken down<\/li>\r\n<li>When there's an emergency<\/li>\r\n<li>If the police tell you to<\/li>\r\n<li>If you're on a <a href=\"\/young-drivers-guide\/what-are-smart-motorways\/\" title=\"What are smart motorways?\">smart motorway<\/a> and the dynamic hard shoulder is in use<\/li> \r\n\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<h3>...and when NOT to use the hard shoulder<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Checking a map or your phone<\/li>\r\n<li>Having a rest<\/li>\r\n<li>Going for a wee<\/li>\r\n<li>Any other non-emergency<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<p>Stopping illegally on the hard shoulder could see you get a minimum <strong>\u00a3100 fine<\/strong> and <strong>3 driving licence penalty points.<\/strong> Check what The Highway Code says about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/breakdowns-and-incidents-274-to-287\/additional-rules-for-motorways-275-to-278\" title=\"The Highway Code\" target=\"_blank\">breakdowns and emergencies on the motorway<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<h2>How to use the hard shoulder<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>Pull onto the hard shoulder if you can't make it to a service station - try to stop near an emergency SOS phone if you can<\/li>\r\n<li>Park as far to the left as possible, with your wheels turned AWAY from traffic<\/li>\r\n<li>Put on your hazard lights to help other drivers see you're there<\/li>\r\n<li>Get out of your car from the <strong>LEFT PASSENGER DOOR<\/strong> and stand on the verge, as far away from the traffic as possible<\/li>\r\n<li>Use an emergency SOS phone or your own phone to call for help<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Stay behind the barrier<\/strong>, as far away from traffic as possible<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n<h3>...and how NOT to use the hard shoulder<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> stay in the car to wait<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> stand close to the car as you could be hurt if it's hit<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> use the right hand door to get out of the car<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> let pets out of the car as they could run into the road<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> try to place a warning triangle<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Do not<\/strong> stand between your car and the breakdown or police vehicle, as one of them could be hit<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<h3>Using an SOS phone:<\/h3>\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n\r\n<li>Follow the blue and white marker posts to the nearest orange SOS phone, walking well away from the traffic<\/li>\r\n<li>You will connect directly to the police - tell them the number on the phone so they can locate you<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n<h2>How to rejoin the motorway<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Once your problem is sorted and you're told you can go on your way, get back in the car through the <strong>left passenger door<\/strong>. Then use the hard shoulder to get up to speed (as you would a slip road) and join the traffic when it is safe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<small>Updated: 25\/02\/2019<\/small>\r\n<div class=\"container-border text-center\"><h4>1 in 10 motorway crashes involves a vehicle parked on the hard shoulder. <a href=\"\/young-drivers-guide\/motorway-driving-tips\/\" title=\"Getting to grips with motorway driving\">Find out more about motorway driving<\/a>.<\/h4><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p align=\"right\"><small>Images: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/highways-agency\" title=\"The Highways Agency\" target=\"_blank\">The Highways Agency<\/a><\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hard shoulder: A narrow emergency lane along the left of a motorway, separated by a solid white line. &nbsp; Most deaths on the hard shoulder happen within 30 minutes of the driver pulling over. Using this part of the motorway should be an absolute last resort, for a breakdown or emergency. It&#8217;s not a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rules-and-regulations","rules-and-regulations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ingenie.com\/young-drivers-guide\/how-to-use-the-hard-shoulder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When and how to use the hard shoulder - Young Driver&#039;s Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hard shoulder: A narrow emergency lane along the left of a motorway, separated by a solid white line. &nbsp; Most deaths on the hard shoulder happen within 30 minutes of the driver pulling over. Using this part of the motorway should be an absolute last resort, for a breakdown or emergency. 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