Official "Let's ***** about Pittsburgh drivers!" thread (Homestead: homes, legal)

[greg42]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

It is. If you follow this strategy, the people in the lane that ends come to a complete stop, wait for someone to let them in to the open lane, which makes those people come to a stop. So it's stop, let someone in, move three inches. I know you approve of this Greg, but it makes no sense. There is no way you can state it is a smooth process when people are coming to a complete stop on a highway to do this.

It would be smooth if the people wouldn't line up half an hour before and get testy about letting someone in line.

The thing is, it's pointless to go on about this because you will NEVER get everyone to do it all the same way. If you could force everyone to do it one way, I believe using both lanes to merge point, as directed at all PennDOT construction zones, would be the more efficient way. But the general instinct is to do everything sooner, and then people are overprotective of their place in line. If everyone did it your way, it might be a little more efficient than the mix of ways, but I don't think it would be the most efficient.

Anyway, in most of these cases where you get a slowdown it isn't the methods that cause the slow but the volume of traffic. Out on a sparse traffic interstate, everyone can do their thing both ways and still not have the traffic slow down. Why is that? Because the traffic volume is so low that losing a lane doesn't slow it down. It's certainly not because the people at those particular merge points have some magical ability that they do not at others.

If everyone moved over the way you're talking about at the point you're talking about on the Veterans Bridge, at the time and traffic volume that is typical to create the backup (I've been in it at times, and I also used to blow by it on the HOV lane), it would not speed up significantly. No way. That is really just the anger at the "damn line-cutters" talking. It wouldn't magically be free-flowing if somehow everyone avoided using the right lane up to the merge point. (Nor, to be fair, would it magically be better if everyone used both lanes and took turns. Not at those rush hour volumes.) You have to take this a little bit on logic and reasoning though because it is nearly impossible to study and prove unless you could create some kind of controlled experiment with hundreds of cars. There will always be people using both methods.

[Clint.]

Some guy on a motorcycle once got bent out of shape because I told him what he was for driving on the shoulder toward the Liberty Bridge to bypass all the cars waiting in line for a mile and a half. Road rage ensued. SOB was lucky I look twice to save a life despite his obvious lack of regard for road rules.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Brookline_sylvia

Some guy on a motorcycle once got bent out of shape because I told him what he was for driving on the shoulder toward the Liberty Bridge to bypass all the cars waiting in line for a mile and a half. Road rage ensued. SOB was lucky I look twice to save a life despite his obvious lack of regard for road rules.

Part of me doesn't mind a motorcycle taking some liberties. Have you ever driven in LA? It is common for motorcycles to drive between cars on the dotted line on 4+ lane highways when cars are stopped and no one seems to mind. I think it is a little crazy, but whatever.

[Clint.]

I don't really have a consistent attitude about it I don't think. Half of it is being primed by sitting in stop and go traffic and being annoyed, which is then exacerbated by seeing a thuggish looking motorcycle driver be fairly reckless, which reminds me of all the bumper stickers I see warning me to watch out for them because of obvious vulnerabilities, which then prompts me to tell him how vulnerable he is, and then, being in earshot and thuggish on a motorcycle, said guys do not like to acknowledge such reality.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by greg42

It would be smooth if the people wouldn't line up half an hour before and get testy about letting someone in line.

That's not true.

Granted, Erie and Erie County don't have near the traffic flow that we do in Pittsburgh, but untill I moved here, I've never seen people come to a complete stop, take a step and merge, and move a couple feet, and repeat the process. Never. People see the signs to merge, or know it from driving it every day, and just move along smoothly. The breaking you may encounter from people falling in line are those timid drivers who panic brake when they come within 300 feet of another vehicle.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Brookline_sylvia

Some guy on a motorcycle once got bent out of shape because I told him what he was for driving on the shoulder toward the Liberty Bridge to bypass all the cars waiting in line for a mile and a half. Road rage ensued. SOB was lucky I look twice to save a life despite his obvious lack of regard for road rules.

Great point Sylvia. We're choked to death with "Look twice, save a life", but how many times do we see situations like you describe, or better yet, what we saw once, which was three motorcycles riding down the double yellow line on the Homestead Grays bridge. I watched with delight as a car about ten vehicles up from us swerved to try to hit them.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

That's not true.

Granted, Erie and Erie County don't have near the traffic flow that we do in Pittsburgh, but untill I moved here, I've never seen people come to a complete stop, take a step and merge, and move a couple feet, and repeat the process. Never. People see the signs to merge, or know it from driving it every day, and just move along smoothly. The breaking you may encounter from people falling in line are those timid drivers who panic brake when they come within 300 feet of another vehicle.

Read the rest of my post too. But you probably did. Seriously, it's the traffic volume. Really.

And geez there's just no way any of THIS issue is related to location! This dichotomy in styles after being alerted that a lane is ending is universal. I've seen it everywhere. If there's enough traffic, it slows. If there's a whole lot of traffic and a really constricting lane and construction issue in active work zone, it slows a lot. If there's very little traffic, we might keep on sailing.

There's no problem up on the Veterans Bridge when there's very little traffic. It may not take much traffic to slow it, that's true. But that tight scenario with the on ramp from the arena area and such plus the 28 off ramp hardly compares with a rural interstate "right lane closed 2 miles" scenario. There are additional variables at play. But either way, low enough traffic flow is what keeps you moving, not smarter drivers, because the things that happen when alerted to lanes ending are universal.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

You bring up a good point. From what I read, it appears that Drivers Ed isn't required in a lot of curriculums these days, is this correct?

Yeah, I think the liability factor weighed into the decision. In my class the cars were leased for free from a local dealer. I remember a ton of stuff from that class, especially the merging onto a highway.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

One of my favorites was when the merge point was AFTER the traffic light at the 31st bridge heading north. The merge point was about 1/8 mile from that intersection and idiots were merging before the merge point. You know what happened?????? There was NO traffic moving because the light would change and we would all sit there until the 31st bridge let out and guess what happened when the light changed AGAIN???? People would try and merge before the merge point again and wouldn't fill both lanes. Hello? Can people be that stupid? One of my favorites is when two trucks drive side by side and stop flow of traffic because there is a merge point 2 miles up the road. I allegedly passed one of those idiot truck drivers on the berm in my Jag once. It was one of the greatest feelings ever to cut that idiot off in such a car. You know he was one pissed off truck driver, but he deserved it. He radioed ahead to his fellow truck drivers, but I was traveling too fast for them to react in time. I then cut in two miles ahead and carried on my way never to be seen by the idiot truck drivers. Ah, great times, but that was when I was younger. These days I wouldn't bother. I will never educate other drivers by my actions. Too many dim ones out there.

A few weeks ago I was getting on Rt 28 from the Vets Bridge and everyone was merging as soon as 28 and the ramp met despite the fact the ramp was another at least 500 ft long. Suffice to say I went around all those idiots laughing at them and stayed on the off ramp until near the end where I merged with no problems. And people wonder why there's more traffic than necessary.

[youngabe]

My few cents:

A poster a while back made the comment that around here, we love to POUND city streets, drive like maniacs, and be morons IN the city, on TIGHT city streets. When these same drivers take to the Parkways, suddenly, 55 mph is scary. This is something I constantly notice within Mt. Washington. Half of these streets, two vehicles CANNOT fit side-by-side, yet people like to rocket around like the streets like they are nicely paved or something.

That blurb leads me into my next observation. Some days, the Parkway is moving so slow, 60mph will get you around everyone on the road. Then the next day, 80+ gets you tailed and you can't keep up with the entire left lane in front of you. It's very inconsistent, but some moon phase or imaginary universal factor affects the masses and dictates the driving climate for the day. Just recently I was in Moon Township and left at about 3. Coming back, from the time I merged on at McClarnen Road, clear until 79, I was in a line of traffic in the left hand lane, moving at 80+. At one point, I was doing 85 and STILL was not even close to the vehicles in front of me. I don't get it...lots of inconsistency.