American "lay-by"?

I've driven in a lot of the US, and I don't think the type of UK lay-by the OP is talking about (which is shown a bit earlier in the thread in the picture contrex posted) exist in the US in exactly the same form.

The ones I've seen in the UK are nothing more than a slight widening of the road, sometimes with an emergency phone (as has been pointed out earlier).  They look more like places to park than anything else, and the lack of picnic tables, bathrooms, maps & other travel information separate them from rest areas in the US in my mind.

This discussion reminds me of a road trip some friends and I took in college in the US.  To help with the boredom, we devised a scoring system for highway rest stops, and spent the trip arguing about how many points a particular rest stop should get for having different amenities, or a nice design, or a good view.  It helped to kill time.   

Carl

These two cars are in a lay-by

I just call this "the side of the road". I don't use a special word for it.

A "rest stop" would be a place where you can get food and pee.

I just call this "the side of the road". I don't use a special word for it.

What that picture doesn't make clear, but this one does, is that a lay-by is not a continuous strip by the side of the road, it is a widened area that has a beginning and an end. The blue car is in a lay-by.

I just call this "the side of the road". I don't use a special word for it.

a lay-by is not a continuous strip by the side of the road, it is a widened area that has a beginning and an end.

It's more than just the side of the road, but less than a US-style rest stop.  Like a rest stop "lite". 

Carl

It's funny to read things like wiki pages that state as a fact that something is called this or that in the US...meaning the entire country..when in fact it could have a thousand different names and versions nationwide!

That's part of the reason I hate it when people take something they've read on Wikipedia and state it like it is 100% fact.  Wikipedia is written by everyday people...you or me could put an entry into wikipedia if we wanted to.  Half of the articles have no citation for where the "facts" came from and 1/4 of the articles are blatanly based on biased opinions.  So that leaves about 1/4 of the articles that are actually facts and have the proof to back it up.

(Sorry to get off the subject and rant...it's just a pet peeve of mine when people read wiki and take everything there to be true without doing any further research to see if the information is correct or not!)

What that picture doesn't make clear, but this one does, is that a lay-by is not a continuous strip by the side of the road, it is a widened area that has a beginning and an end. The blue car is in a lay-by.

I know what you were referring to. I still just call it the side of the road, although I have heard it referred to as the shoulder.

That's part of the reason I hate it when people take something they've read on Wikipedia and state it like it is 100% fact.  Wikipedia is written by everyday people...you or me could put an entry into wikipedia if we wanted to.  Half of the articles have no citation for where the "facts" came from and 1/4 of the articles are blatanly based on biased opinions.  So that leaves about 1/4 of the articles that are actually facts and have the proof to back it up.

(Sorry to get off the subject and rant...it's just a pet peeve of mine when people read wiki and take everything there to be true without doing any further research to see if the information is correct or not!)

You're right. However, Wikipedia is a good, easy way to find links to more information, if you look at the bottom of the article, and some of the links can be reliable sources. It's also helpful to look at the dicussion page which goes with the Wikipedia article, which can provide some background as to the thoughts behind what people post. And the number of times statements get removed and put back, sometimes due to petty personal arguments.

A pet peeve of mine is when people copy the same "fact" on websites all over the internet - you can tell that it's copied because it's exactly the same, word for word, on every site -then people say it must be true because it's been verified by many different sources.

I know what you were referring to. I still just call it the side of the road, although I have heard it referred to as the shoulder.

Shoulder is different, though. You often find a layby on a road that has no shoulder.

Examples of the British lay-by in slightly different forms, aerial views.

Typical lay-by on a two-lane road:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=north+walsham&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=8.155452,18.457031&ie=UTF8&ll=52.802126,1.397442&spn=0.001018,0.004292&t=k&z=18

Sometimes they go a few feet further back and are separated from the roadway by a grassy area:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hoveton&sll=52.580731,1.280841&sspn=0.001024,0.002253&ie=UTF8&ll=52.753061,1.45454&spn=0.00102,0.004292&t=k&z=18

Longer lay-by with acceleration/deceleration lanes on a faster dual carriageway (divided highway):
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=norwich&sll=52.753061,1.45454&sspn=0.00102,0.002253&g=hoveton&ie=UTF8&ll=52.618475,1.209161&spn=0.002045,0.008583&t=k&z=17

A pet peeve of mine is when people copy the same "fact" on websites all over the internet - you can tell that it's copied because it's exactly the same, word for word, on every site -then people say it must be true because it's been verified by many different sources.

I agree...so much incorrect information give on the web...that's why (depending on what the subject is), I try to find an "official" webpage on the subject so I'm 95% sure it's correct.  For instance, if I'm looking up information on child support in VA state, I'm not gonna just randomly believe everything I read.  I'm going to go to the official website (Division of Child Support Enforcement) which is run by the government who makes the laws...so they SHOULD know what they're talking about (even though they are still incorrect on some things, go figure). 

This also happens a lot with news articles and news programs..news is so biased and sometimes the information is not verified before it's printed.  During the election, a co-worker came into work talking about how 'Clinton was now supporting McCain'..we all knew it was ridiculous but it was a fairly common INCORRECT rumour that was widely circulated on the internet and somehow leaked into some news programs.  She's quite daft and doesn't follow politics so she believed this to be a fact and walked around making herself look stupid by telling everyone this like it was a fact.  Just because it's on the news or in a newspaper doesn't make it fact.  How many retractions are printed every day?

My mom says, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see"....pretty appropriate in cases like that. 

(Sorry to change the subject)

Now...back to lay-bys....lol

Off the subject - Here in Houston, the roads that run along side the freeways are called 'feeder roads' and I'm fairly sure there's not very many other areas of the US where they're referred to as that. They are also sometimes referred to as 'service roads' too...but mostly 'feeder roads'.

There's loads of service roads in the suburbs of Washington, DC.  I'm sure they must have them in a variety of places in the US.

I've always heard them called service roads, both in California and Wisconsin.

Yeah, I'm fairly sure the term 'service road' is used in various locations throughout the country, but 'feeder road' seems to be solely in this area.

That's part of the reason I hate it when people take something they've read on Wikipedia and state it like it is 100% fact.  Wikipedia is written by everyday people...you or me could put an entry into wikipedia if we wanted to. 

Which fortunately, no one has done here!    But a Wiki link did prompt further discussion about what the thing is or isn't called in the neck of the woods in the places from which we all came.  (going along with what sweetpeach was saying, cos I'm not chop-livering anyone )

Which fortunately, no one has done here!    But a Wiki link did prompt further discussion about what the thing is or isn't called in the neck of the woods in the places from which we all came.  (going along with what sweetpeach was saying, cos I'm not chop-livering anyone )

My comment was off subject and not directed towards anyone here (so sorry if it came across as an accusation to someone).  My point was just that some people use Wiki as a "Bible" for information...and take anything they read there as factual information...which irks me, because sometimes the "facts" are incorrect.  I've never really seen anyone do that on this forum (thank goodness)...but I see it a lot in everyday life. 

 

But in the UK the 'hard shoulder' is different from a layby...


Vicky

I've heard it referred to as "soft shoulder" in the US.

I'm even more confused than before.  Where I live we have a shoulder on the side of the road, but they are usually marked with signs that say "For Emergency Stopping Only."  Is this the equivalent of a lay-by?  I was under the impression that a lay-by is more like a place you can stop and rest, take the dog to the bathroom, stretch your legs, etc.

And I've been travelling to England for the past 5 years, but can't recall ever seeing anything remotely familiar to the descriptions here of a lay-by.  Are they only located in certain areas?  I've been to big cities and coutryside but don't think I've ever seen something like this.  Of course, I could have just overlooked them because they seemed so insignificant at the time.