Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread, apologies if it's not. I was wondering if there was a name, or term used to describe a patch of dirt on the side of the road that cars use to pull over to park in. I was trying to describe something like that in one of my stories and it's not sounding right. Maybe a "pull over" or "turnaround"? i.e. "Kevin saw a patch of dirt on the side the road and pulled over." I feel like there's a name for something like that maybe? It's shaped like a semi-circle or banana kind of. I hope this makes some sense. And thanks.
Like, it's wider in that spot than in other spots, deliberately designed to allow people to pull-over? In my regional vernacular, it's a pull-off spot. Nothing fancy. If it's more continuous I'd call it the breakdown lane or wide shoulder.
In the US, if it's made specifically for car(s), it's called a turn-out. If it's just a strip that's big enough for a car but isn't specifically a turn-out, it's referred to as the shoulder. I looked at the road signs and they spell it, turn-out. "Slow vehicles must use turn-out" is a sign that says if too many cars are backed up behind you, you have to use the turn-out to let the cars pass you.
Here in the UK, these are referred to as a 'lay-by' or Parking Places on motorways and many roads where there is no normal 'shoulder.' (first photo) In very rural areas, on single track roads, there are frequent semicircles of pavement known as (and marked as) 'passing places.' (middle photo) At NO TIME are cars supposed to stop in these places EXCEPT to let an oncoming car go by, or to let a car behind them overtake and pass. These are not ever to be simply parked in. As my husband pointed out, passing places are 'the other half of a two-lane road.' They are not shoulders. You wouldn't stop your car in the middle of your lane on a two-lane road to go off for a leisurely stroll. You don't do it in a passing place for exactly the same reason. (btw: I have been lucky enough to be on that road in the photo many times, and it's a stunning place to be.) A lot of tourists in Scotland make the mistake of thinking these passing places are okay to stop in, to get out and take pictures or have their lunch, etc. After all, there is nobody around. Right? Why not get out, lock up the car, and go for a walk? When cars start piling up in front and behind them, and have to start backing up and going into ditches, etc, they sometimes realise their mistake. And sometimes not. (third photo) I've also been caught in a jam like this, caused by somebody who had left their car in a passing place and gone walkabout. And it took around 3/4 of an hour to 'sort' so people could get on their way.
Roger, lay-by in the UK, where some of the roads are one lane. "Patch of dirt by the side of the road" is I think the perfect description of a small country road in the US which is too small to have a real shoulder. That is exactly what I would call it, because that is what it is. It wasn't made specifically for that, though it may be frequently used for it, it is just there.
Please everybody, never take this person's advice: there are no sidewalk 'islands' on the highway. Extremely irresponsible, probably a troll, imo.
In California, there are frequent signs on small roads that slower cars must take turnouts. (I forget the exact phrasing.) More than once, we've been trapped behind a car from another state that technically obeyed those signs, by veering into the turnouts, progressing through them at their original full speed, and pulling back onto the main road. Apparently it's necessary for the signs to say, "Slow traffic must take turnouts AND STOP SO THAT OTHERS CAN PASS." I'd have thought that that would be obvious, but, no.
I wish we had these on the roads in my county. Nothing but twists and turns and hills, and "No Passing" all the way. Frustrating doesn't half say it.