And idiots try to drive on it to skip traffic.

There are shoulders in Germany as well, but they prefer that the ambulance drive through the middle lane.

Right? Around here, each side of a divided highway has two travel lanes marked. There is a narrow shoulder on the left, and a wide shoulder on the right, either of which is adequate for emergency vehicles.

The intended purpose is to facilitate future construction. There is enough room on each side of the median for three lanes plus a narrow shoulder. They can put up a temporary k-rail median and repaint the lane lines to move a lane of traffic across the normal median. They can completely close a lane of traffic for repairs, while retaining at least two lanes (plus a narrow breakdown lane) in each direction.

Using a the shoulder for emergency vehicles is not as good, as they are usually smaller and they are the place where those with damaged vehicles should stop. This means you cannot go as fast on them as you can in the lane shown in the video.