people in east liberty that randomly stop on the road and leave 4 ways on blocking traffic (Pittsburgh: calculator, to live)

[steindle]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

40 years ago, when my old man was teaching me to drive, he warned me about that behaviour specifically in Squirell Hill. This is not a new thing, and it's not isolated to any one neighborhood.

No, don't you see: this only happens in "certain neighborhoods" where "lazy behavior is championed."

[PB&J O'Rourke]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

Who are you to think there is something wrong with me?

There are a lot of stupid people doing a lot of stupid things in traffic these days. I'm an extremely skilled, focused driver, and people like the ones that I have described and others have described **** me off. I don't text or talk when I drive, I use turning signals at all times. I use the left lane to pass only. I don't use my brake pedal more than the accelerator. Driving in Pittsburgh isn't the least bit difficult to me. I don't unnecessarily hold up traffic, I more than do my part to keep traffic moving.

Most people don't do these things. Now there's a bus to catch, so get going.

Hey man, I only call it as I see it.

You should probably chill out with a new kid and all.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by PB&J O'Rourke

Hey man, I only call it as I see it.

You should probably chill out with a new kid and all.

None of this ever occurs when my wife or child are with me. My child is approaching 9 weeks old, the incident I described may have been longer ago than I initially stated. Maybe the baby has changed me, because nothing has happened since he's been born.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

None of this ever occurs when my wife or child are with me.

So your wife has no idea what you're really like? That's sort of freaky.

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

Maybe the baby has changed me, because nothing has happened since he's been born.

I hope you keep it together when the baby grows older. Take how you feel about double parking and parking chairs and multiply that by a million to get an idea of how stressful it is to be a parent. And then they become individuals with attitudes and opinions. You're in for a ride. Better prepare. Parenting and anger management classes would be a wise choice.

[PB&J O'Rourke]

Well at least he had a boy so he likely won't be on the news for killing his kid's prospective boyfriends.

[eschaton]

I'm sorry, but given my experience growing up on the East Coast, and spending a lot of time driving in NYC, DC, Boston, and Philly, I have the exact opposite conclusion.

Yes, overall people drive faster and more aggressively there (except in rural New England, where they are unfailingly polite to pedestrians). But this is a suburban thing more than an urban one. Actual residents of cities very rarely speed along, unless they are on a controlled-access highway, divided road, or a major thoroughfare with multiple lanes. After all, people in cities take sudden turns, edge into parallel parking spaces, etc.

In contrast I routinely see people in Pittsburgh driving very aggressively on not only major streets, but on minor cut through streets. In Lawrenceville, people try to avoid Butler Street by using Foster and Plummer, but they don't even do a rolling stop at either of the stop signs on 44th, which makes it a really dangerous road to drive on. A lot of streets in the North Side, even minor ones like Chestnut, are similar in terms of people driving way too fast for a pedestrian street. That sort of driving belongs on the highways or in the suburbs, not where there are pedestrians and cars starting and stopping suddenly.

[Clint.]

Speeding is bad anywhere. Rarely will it get someone where they are going any faster, and if it does then it will be only by a few minutes.

I haven't spent much time in traffic in other cities - do vehicles do a lot of stopping in lanes (whether to sit and wait for a passenger they are going to pick up, converse with another driver or someone on the sidewalk, etc.) and u-turns in the streets like seen around here? Is that just a practice that is bigger than Pittsburgh?

How about pedestrians? I'm told that in Italy, at least here a friend of mine went (Naples) pedestrians tend to just stroll into the street and drivers adapt to them. I see a lot of people Downtown who don't seem to pay much attention to who has the right of way.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Clint.

Speeding is bad anywhere. Rarely will it get someone where they are going any faster, and if it does then it will be only by a few minutes.

Not when traveling on the interstate. An extra 10mph will get you to your destination quite a few hours faster on long trips.

[PB&J O'Rourke]

Going fast feels good, man.

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Not when traveling on the interstate. An extra 10mph will get you to your destination quite a few hours faster on long trips.

Really?