hard shoulder

 

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hard shoulder (plural hard shoulders)

1. A verge to the side of a highway, which should be used only in case of an emergency (especially on a motorway)
   • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 38:

     As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.

• breakdown lane

• soft shoulder

•   hard shoulder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia