Bump Outs make exciting driving

I laughed out loud at the sign as we passed. We were traveling in Illinois in such torrential rains that Interstate 80/94 in the Chicago area was shut down. Tim and I were on our way to a Sunday wedding and taking the slow scenic route due to the rain. We were not having a happy time.

Somewhere in the Chicago suburbs there was a sign posted that read, "No driving on the shoulder of the road." The sign itself wasn't funny, but I got tickled anyway. I said to Tim, "I guess they have some Indiana people driving over here and had to put up a sign."

Indiana drivers and roads are unique. Having moved here from a lifetime in Illinois, I noticed this phenomenon right away. It took a while to get used to it, but I have adapted. At least in our area, a suburb of Indy, no one seems to think that widening the road to at least four lanes seems to be necessary. It doesn't seem to matter that the roads are congested with traffic. No extra lanes are built. The transportation department merely creates bump outs.

I had never experienced a bump out before in Illinois. A bump out is a curved piece of road that looks like an elongated backward "c" on the right side of the road. The bump out occurs when there is a possibility of a left turn off the main road. Passing on the right in Indiana is the norm, at least where we live. The theory is that if you are making a left hand turn off a major road, the bump out will allow cars behind you to zoom past you on the right. It works fairly well, but honestly, we could use a few wider roads with more lanes.

I really don't mind the bump outs, I use them frequently. The only thing that really bugs me is that people will pass you on the right even if there isn't a bump out. They just zoom around on the shoulder of the road. Those drivers are scary, because sometimes the shoulder isn't all that wide and is right next to a deep ditch. YIKES! In fact, every time I drive to church there is a possibility that this little excitement will occur. There is no bump out for our left turn into the church parking lot.

I could see that at the location of the sign in Illinois there were nice wide blacktopped shoulders to the road. People from Indiana must surely drive in Illinois frequently and need a little reminder that not everyone drives like they're passing at the Indianapolis 500. Ya gotta love it!