Before I moved to California, I lived in a state where passing in the breakdown lane (during certain hours) was permitted. I had coworkers who were unaware of this rule and felt those passing were "jerks". Even explaining that it wasn't illegal, they still felt they were "jerks" for not waiting with everyone else...

I guess it's similar to lane splitting by motorcycles. Moving from a state where this is illegal to one where it's legal was a shock (although I see a ton of people lane splitting at insanely dangerous speeds...)

I admit I've never heard of legal shoulder passing (other than obvious common-sense exceptions).

Beijing China speaking, ya it does work. The black Audi's use the breakdown lane often to get around traffic, it's dangerous and they don't get tickets.

That surprises me. I've seen it dozens of times, so much so that not really notable.

Hacker news has an American/west Europe bias. It is definitely common in many third world countries, especially by elites.

But I've seen it dozens of times in the USA.