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A lane is the area of a street or road marked by white or yellow lines, in which motorists maintain a consistent direction of travel. Most countries with a significant number of automobiles maintain lanes on their roads, and strictly enforce laws requiring drivers to stay in their lanes as much as possible (as opposed to randomly "drifting" or "weaving" which is common in lane-less countries like Egypt).
1 Types of lanes
- A through lane or traffic lane is the default type of lane for through traffic. At intersections, these may be indicated by arrows on the pavement pointing straight ahead.
- A fire lane is the area next to a curb, which is reserved for firefighting equipment in the event of a fire. Parking in these areas, usually marked by red lines, often warrants a parking ticket .
- A loading lane is an area next to a curb, which is reserved for loading and unloading passengers. It may be marked by a "LOADING ONLY" sign or a yellow or white curb.
- A passing lane is often provided on steep mountainThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and ste gradeIn topography, the slope of a hill, mountain, road or anything else inclined, is more often referred to as its grade (or, sometimes in the US and usually in the UK, gradient). The mathematical definition of slope is generally accepted as applicable in thes, in order to allow smaller vehicleVehicles are non-living means for transportation. They are most often man-made ( automobiles, motorcycles, trains, ships, aircraft), but also non-man-made means for transportations can be called vehicles, including icebergs and floating tree trunks. Vehics to pass larger, slower ones. This is sometimes called a climbing lane if on the up hillFor the landform that extends above the surrounding terrain and that is smaller than a mountain, see the article on mountain''. See also The Hill''. People whose surname is or was Hill include Ambrose Powell Hill, General of the Confederate States of Amer side. Passing lanes may also be provided on long stretches of other roadway. On two-lane roads, passing in the lane of oncoming traffic is sometimes allowed given a long enough straightaway, if the broken line is on the normal side of travel.
- An auxiliary lane along a highwayA highway is a major road within a city, or linking several cities together. It includes roads known as interstate highway, freeway, motorway and autobahn, where a full description varies by country. Generally, a highway is a road which has multiple lanes or motorwayA motorway ( United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and some Commonwealth nations) is both a type of road and a classification. Motorways may also be regarded as highways, designed to carry a large volume of traffic where a normal road would not suffice or connects slip roads, with the entrance rampThis article deals with the physical structure, not a canal inclined plane. An inclined plane or a ramp is an sloped surface; for example a roadway to bridge a height difference. The inclined plane is used to reduce the force necessary to overcome the for or acceleration lane from one interchange leading to the exit ramp or deceleration lane of the next.
- The emergency lane of a road (also known as the breakdown lane or shoulder) is reserved for breakdowns, and for emergency vehicles. Often, especially in rural areas, these lanes deliberately have ruts cut in them, in order to warn drivers that they are leaving the roadway. This feature is especially important in the circumstance that a driver falls a sleep at the wheel.
- An HOV lane or carpool lane is reserved for carpooling. It may be marked with a diamond icon every few hundred feet (hence the nickname "diamond lane"), or separated from other lanes by double broken white lines, a continuous pair of double yellow lines, or just a single broken white line.
- A turn lane is set aside for slowing down and making a turn, so as not to disrupt traffic. At a full intersection with a traffic light, turn lanes are used more to hold traffic until the light changes.
- A bike lane is a half-lane reserved for bicycling. This may be indicated by a bicycle icon, the word "BIKE" (or its local equivalent), or both.
- A reversible lane is one which uses overhead lights, signs, poles or barriers to indicate the current direction of travel it is to be used for. Typically, it is used at rush hour to accommodate extra traffic, and at other times as a center turn lane. In between, there is approximately one hour where no traffic is allowed. While the idea is very simple, the suicide lane became a slang word for this, because many people did not pay attention to their driving or the lights. Because of their history of numerous accidents and collisions, reversible lanes are rarely used now. However, there are some functional examples on the river bridges just east of downtown Los Angeles which use lights only and nothing else to indicate the direction of traffic for each lane. Some places, like Hawaii, call these lanes contraflow lanes and enforce them with plastic poles which are manually rearranged by work crews before and after rush hour.
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