Shortcut (road)

Rat running or cut-through driving is the practice by motorists of using secondary roads, cemetery roads, or residential side streets instead of the intended main roads in urban or suburban areas.

Rat running is a tactic used to avoid heavy traffic, long delays at traffic signals or other obstacles, even where there are traffic calming measures to discourage its use or laws against taking certain routes. Rat runs are frequently taken by motorists familiar with the local geography. They will often take such shortcuts to avoid busy main roads and intersections.

Rat running is controversial. It is sometimes opposed by residents on the affected streets, as some people regard it as a disturbance of their peace. Sometimes, it affects house prices. Authorities often try to prevent it, but enforcement is difficult. Rat running is sometimes fought by installing traffic calming devices, such as speed humps, traffic circles, and rumble strips, by making some streets one-way, or by blocking off certain intersections. Some places, including Montgomery County, Maryland; Maryland Heights, Missouri; and parts of Minneapolis, Minnesota, have banned turning on certain streets during rush hours to prevent rat running.

Motorists familiar with an area sometimes use side streets or other smaller roads that run parallel in the same direction as the main road. They are generally local people who know these streets and the pros and cons of using them as alternatives to the main road.

In some places, motorists avoid stopping at a red light by turning on to a side street or into a parking lot to bypass it.

In some countries, red lights can be avoided by turning right on red (or left in drive-on-the-left countries), making a U-turn, and then turning right (or left) again back on to the street on which the motorist was traveling. This may require less time than waiting for the light to turn green.

Some motorists exit and then re-enter a freeway or motorway at the same junction, or use lanes designated for exiting and merging, or cut across unpaved dividers to frontage roads, to pass stationary traffic.

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