PA Drivers rated as some of the most unintelligent. (Pittsburgh: suburb, title)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by pman

you don't learn how to swear until you learn to drive. that's true anywhere except maybe the country.

I wasn't raised in the country, but I knew how to swear before I was 16...

[bradjl2009]

I truly don't understand why people like to go so slow in this area. I can't stand Babcock Bvld. were people go 25 mph for no reason when the speed limit is 35!

[RoughCollie]

Oh my gosh. You guys ought to come to Boston! It's common for cars to turn left from the right-hand lane, right in front of your car which is traveling straight ahead in the left lane.

That's just one example; I have many. I won't drive my husband's large car unless it is necessary, because other drivers are not intimidated by it. In my SUV, I can intimidate them into not plowing into me as they frisk along the roads like no one else is there. I guess the other drivers figure my SUV will do a whole lot of damage to their cars because they give me a wider berth.

You can sit forever waiting to get out on a street and no one will let you in, until (I guess) a visitor from Pittsburgh comes along.

We were there for 9 days with nary a problem with other drivers. That's one of the things I like about Pittsburgh! I will admit that one time I did have to warn my husband that a car was stopped on the road in a place we wouldn't have expected it.

As far as I'm concerned, Pittsburgh's biggest asset is its friendly people, including the drivers.

RC

[truemuck]

The biggest thing I've noticed while driving in Pittsburgh is people who don't signal or often don't look while changing lanes. Most of the times, I've been to the 'Burgh, I've almost been sideswiped.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

3. General timidness on the roads. Pittsburghers love to drive 5mph below the speed limit and stop to wave a whole caravan of cars in from the side streets. Just move, will ya? Some of us don't want to be on the road all day.

What wrong with 5 mph below the legal MAXIMUM?

I mean, I'm at the limit or a bit above, but I don't fault anyone going 5 mph slower!

[slamont61]

You really want to see bad drivers?? They exist, believe me. There are some places like Detroit where the rule of the road is "Go like hell or get out of the way" or even Chicago where there are no rules. Drivers from those two places make Pgh Drivers seem like the welcome wagon.

[Mugatu]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

What wrong with 5 mph below the legal MAXIMUM?

I mean, I'm at the limit or a bit above, but I don't fault anyone going 5 mph slower!

Nothing wrong with it at all, but in most other cities 5-10mph OVER is the norm. As RoughCollie said about Boston, people drive aggressively in other cities. Pittsburgh is the only place I've been where people drive passively. After growing up and learning to drive in FL it's hard for me to let go of my aggresive driving habits. Down there, you will get flipped off, tailgated, beeped at and possibly even shot if you are going under the speed limit. Seriously.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

Nothing wrong with it at all, but in most other cities 5-10mph OVER is the norm. As RoughCollie said about Boston, people drive aggressively in other cities. Pittsburgh is the only place I've been where people drive passively. After growing up and learning to drive in FL it's hard for me to let go of my aggresive driving habits. Down there, you will get flipped off, tailgated, beeped at and possibly even shot if you are going under the speed limit. Seriously.

When my girlfriend moved to Florida, her new friends were impressed with her ability to miss potholes. She said there was a tiny one in the middle or the road---the only pothole she ever saw---and they were all amazed she missed it! Pittsburgh driving is good for something!

[highway29south]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

I agree 100%, I'm sure Pittsburgh skews the whole state towards the bottom. As someone that moved up here from another state, I can tell you that Pittsburghers do things on the roadway that I've never seen anywhere else.

1. Slowing down or stopping on the on-ramps when merging onto a highway. This, more than any other, makes my blood boil. It's so dangerous! Learn to merge correctly!

2. Not turning on red when there is no sign prohibiting it. Do Pittsburghers not realize that it is legal to make a right on red as long as long as there is no "no turn on red" sign?

3. General timidness on the roads. Pittsburghers love to drive 5mph below the speed limit and stop to wave a whole caravan of cars in from the side streets. Just move, will ya? Some of us don't want to be on the road all day.

This is so true. And I thought I was just a frustrated driver. Glad to hear other people see this too on Pittsburgh roads.

I think the reason people stop on the ramps is because hardly anyone on the highway moves over to let those coming onto the highway merge in. We went on vacation recently and on every highway within three states, people moved over when we merged. Back in the 'burgh, we had to slow down on the ramp every time and wait until it was clear.

People here do drive too slow. Five miles below the speed limit is actually not bad. Most days, I'm behind people who go 30 in a 40 zone.

The number of people that just stop in the road is amazing, as are the people who sit at green lights and the ones that stop when the sign says "all right turns no stop".

I just love the ones that think they don't need turn signals, like everyone is supposed to guess when they decide to make a turn.

I've also noticed a lot of the male drivers do not like to be passed (whether it's because I am female or just a general thing) they always speed up and block me from passing, even if they were driving at a snails pace before. Sorry to all the great male drivers out there, but I've encountered this more than once here and even been harrassed over it on the Parkway. And I've never had it happen anywhere else I've driven. Scary stuff.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by highway29south

I think the reason people stop on the ramps is because hardly anyone on the highway moves over to let those coming onto the highway merge in. We went on vacation recently and on every highway within three states, people moved over when we merged. Back in the 'burgh, we had to slow down on the ramp every time and wait until it was clear.

.

Merging is one of my peeves as well. But, I take a different approach. If you're merging onto say, Route 79, you should be hitting the end of the ramp at a high enough rate of speed to safely merge. The faster you go, the smaller space you need to merge with the traffic. I get so frustrated with people that never use their signal, never look in their side view mirror, and automatically assume that traffic in the slow lane will simply "move over". Just recently this happened to me, the guy never looked, there was car parallel with me in the fast lane, I had no where to go, had to break like hell to move over. Sorry, it's called merging, a simple concept.