% of trucks and SUVs in Pittsburgh (Beaver, Penn: sales, neighborhood, inspections)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

LOL! You can have that now!
Anyone is free to park as far away as they like.

Try the parking lot at Whole Foods in the East End and get back to me.

[SteelCityRising]

OP, perhaps I'm still wearing my "Pittsburgher rose-colored glasses", but I actually see very few large SUVs and non-work-related pick-up trucks here in the city. Maybe the East End is indeed just in a "bubble" with its designated hybrid vehicle parking spaces and whatnot, but I'd have to say that for every Hummer I see here I see 20 Honda Fits. For every GMC Yukon Denali I see here I see 20 Toyota Priii. For every Chevrolet Suburban I see here I see 20 Mini Coopers. For every Cadillac Escalade I see here I see 20 Nissan Versas. I will concede, though, that there are too many Honda Pilots here for my liking (along with incompetent people who drive them).

[AnneWest]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

LOL! You can have that now!
Anyone is free to park as far away as they like.

And trucks, vans and SUV's can park away also. Some of us, while not handicapped, have a hard time parking in the furthest reaches of lots while dealing with purchases etc. I've also parked near other cars, and even empty spaces, only to come out and find myself surrounded anyway.
Why not just make half a lot just for cars, the other half for bigger vehicles? Ok then...let's make 1/3 or 1/4 of the lot just for cars. Is there something fundamentally wrong with separating vehicles by size?

[Aqua Teen Carl]

In my experience:

- North Hills: SUVs
- South Hills: Trucks
- East End: Bikes
- West End: there's a West End?

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Honestly, last time I was in Pittsburgh, I was struck by the lack of pickup trucks and SUVs compared to where I live now. I also noticed how much better the average condition of older cars was. On that note, don't complain about the mandatory annual car inspections in Pennsylvania. They force people to take care of their cars in exchange for the privilege of driving. In Georgia, there are no mandatory inspections, and it shows. There are lots of older vehicles that look like death traps, plus a lot more dead cars at the sides of the roads.

This is a myth, and several other states have done away with their inspection programs because they do not result in increased safety. Additionally, I have lived in two major areas without inspection for a decent amount of time (Kentucky and Minnesota). Cars are not better looking or in better condition due to inspections. Especially because the PA inspection system is a privatized system that suffers from a significant amount of corruption. There are many cash for sticker auto shops out there and I have seen several cars that should not be considered roadworthy in PA. If PA inspections were really about safety they would be administered by PennDOT and no cars would be exempt.

My experiences from Kentucky were similar to what you post related to Georgia and there were many vehicles on the roads in Kentucky without car hoods, doors, cracked windshields, etc. However, in Minnesota I noticed that despite there being no inspections vehicles were very well kept and perhaps even in better condition than PA. Leave it to PA to privatize things that should be managed by the government like auto inspections and not privatize the sale of alcoholic beverages. I think the only thing that forces people to take care of their cars is enforcement of traffic safety laws or independent inspections, in other words if PennDOT inspects the car you could get it fixed anywhere and bring it back to show completion of necessary work rather than having a shop that does repairs also do the inspection. The only alternative I see to improve the program in its current format would be to not charge for inspections unless the work is performed at said shop. In other words, if someone "fails" an inspection than they should be able to shop around without the fear of still having to pay for the inspection with one shop and then pay again at another shop.

[Katarina Witt]

^^When I lived in Illinois there was no inspection, don't know about now. Colorado dropped their inspection program shortly after we moved here in 1980. All we have is the air pollution inspection in the metro area. I agree that I have seen no more junker type, unsafe cars in either of these places than I see when I visit PA.

[TechCom]

I would add that my family and a lot of others do home improvement projects, especially over the weekend.

Sure they don't fill the bed every weekend with plywood, but my family makes a lot of trips to home depot. It would be difficult to keep the old houses we have repaired without a truck. Don't have the money for someone to do all the work for us.

[UKyank]

I have a car & an SUV. Both serve their purposes.

[ryanm3685]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

- West End: there's a West End?

I am actually embarrassed to admit that I lived in the region most of my life, and it wasn't until I came to this forum that I learned of the existence of the West End neighborhoods. Then again, I wonder how many people (even long time residents) know of the West End?

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

No one should be going over 55mph in a 55 zone.

I was heading north on Route 28 between Route 8 and the Highland Park Bridge going 75 tonight at 8:30pm.

EVERYONE was FLYING by me. I swear they were going 95+.